Scar & Bones
by phantomace13
Summary: Harry had died one too many times thanks to his older brother, John, the Boy-Who-Lived. Now, Death orders him to go back to the world of the living and fix everything along with his soul mate Susan Bones. ABANDONED
1. Chapter 1

**O.K., I know that I promised that I was going to post _Half-bloods Rule_ next, but in my preperation weeks before hand, I wrote out the first two chapters. The problem, I didn't continually write and slowly lost interest as time went by without writing it. So, to make up for it, here's a simliar story that I just started that's fresh. I don't know where it came from but I just decided to combine two popular fanfic ideas into one; Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived and the Harry dies too many times. Something I noticed is that most wrong boy-who-lived fics are either Ginny or Hermione pairings with one or two different pairs like Daphne Greengrass; I've only noticed one Luna pairing. The same can be said for death fics, Hermione/Daphne/Tracey pairings are the norm, no Luna. So here, I not only combine two different ideas, I include a pairing no one has even done for either of them, Susan Bones.**

**_Summary_: Harry had died one too many times thanks to his older brother, John, the Boy-Who-Lived. Now, Death orders him to go back to the world of the living and fix everything. With his soul mate Susan Bones, the powers of the true Boy-Who-Lived, and the Ministry; Voldemort, Dumbeldore, John, and the Potters don't stand a chance. Will contain manipulative Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Weasley, and Potter bashing, and powerful/grey Harry.**

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><p>Harry opened his eyes. Surrounding him was endless darkness. Turning around, Harry looked all over and the only thing he saw was the darkness. Surprisingly, Harry could easily see himself as plainly as he could when he was in light. Looking closely at his body, Harry saw that he was covered in bruises and had a couple of bleeding cuts on his arms and upper body. Seeing these reminded Harry how he got them. He had, in one of his rare moments of anger, engaged his older twin brother Jonathan in a duel outside their house. He thought he had done well, scoring a few hits on the 'great Boy-Who-Lived' before the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air, then darkness.<p>

"Well," came a menacing voice, "back again Harry?"

Harry turned around and was met with a bright flash. When Harry lowered his arm and opened his eyes, the darkness had changed into a light grey, cloudy mist. In front of him, excluding a dark aura was a tall, imposing figure with a hunched back. He wore a long, ancient black robe that concealed the figures face. For some reason, seeing this figure filled Harry with a great sense of cold and fear.

"I see you do not recognize me, and I thought that we were good friends with the amount of times you've visited me."

As the figure spoke, it walked closer to Harry and raised its long skeletal fingers to its hood. As it said the last words, it through back its hood and Harry was met with the frightening sight of a large skull where the figure's head should be. Letting out a loud gasp, Harry took a step back from the figure that kept coming closer.

"What?" said the figure in a sarcastic manner, "you don't recognize your old friend Death?"

Harry's worst fears were confirmed. He had heard rumors of the figure in front of him being real, but now, seeing him up close. Death stopped so that their faces were inches apart. His grey skull peered down at Harry, looking into his bright green eyes. The two looked at each other for several seconds before Death moved his head back, giving Harry a little more personal space.

"I shouldn't be surprised, you never remembered me all the other times you visited." He laughed cruelly at Harry's horrified look. "I've always enjoyed the looks you give me when you visit; it is so entertaining to see how you mortals react to me." Death laughed again, an astonishing feat considering his skull couldn't show emotion and only moved when he talked.

"I-I've visited you before?" Harry was surprised by his ability to say anything.

"Yes," came to cold, monotone response. "At least once or twice every year ever since you've started Hogwarts. What I want to know is if you have something against living. Do you enjoy dying, do you not like your life, do you want to end it? I have nothing against those who want to die but do you have to continue to use your brother to kill yourself?"

Harry was shocked. He had _died_ before, John had killed him? Quickly doing the math, Harry found that he had supposedly died ten times, at _minimum_. Harry's legs felt heavy and he fell down, unable to move. He looked up into Death's face.

"Did John kill me all those times?"

Death nodded. "Oh yes, every single time you died was the fault of your idiot brother, his Weasel sidekick, or them together. It always was a complex series of accidents that killed you, all caused by those two. Except for this last time, you brother used a blasting curse that was too powerful and launched you into a stone wall."

Death's words made sense to Harry as he remembered the fight. He reached around and felt the back of his head. Sure enough, there was a large bump back there. When he pulled his hand back he saw that it was covered in blood. Death put his finger tips together and started to walk around Harry.

"The only question now is to whether or not I send you back to the world of the living again."

"Please, Mr. Death, send me back, I'll be more careful this time, please."

"Save your begging!" he said, throwing his right arm out. "If there I one thing I can't stand it's your stupid mortals begging for your pathetic lives, it gets so annoying after a while. Of course I'm going to send you back; you need to kill that bastard Tom Riddle."

"But John has to do that; he's the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"DON'T USE THAT MONIKER AROUND ME! It makes it sound like I can't kill him. No one is safe from me, NO ONE! Not even that foolish Dark Lord can avoid meeting me forever. That's where you come in. Halloween 1981, two humans failed to meet me even though events that night would've normally sent them to me. Those two were Tom Riddle and you Harry, not your brother. I would have enjoyed taking you all those times you came to visit me, but thanks to that stupid prophecy, I can't take you unless you are killed by Riddle himself, so I have to send you back."

The shock of being killed many times by John was nothing compared to what Death had just revealed. "_I'm_ the Boy-Who…I mean" he stopped short when Death glared at him, "I was the one who Voldemort attacked that night?"

Death nodded. "Yes, Riddle attacked you that Halloween night, marking you as the one that will defeat him with your lightning-bolt shaped scar."

"But what about John's star shaped scar?"

"As I've explained again and again every time you come here, it was caused by falling debris from the backlash of the Killing Curse, the fate to which was believe happened to you. And don't even try to argue with me about it like you've six other times, I know when someone has almost died. Surely you know that you are better suited to defeat Riddle with all those 'adventures' you've had?"

Harry remembered, nearly every year at Hogwarts, John and his two friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were involved in adventure or another that had them trying to save the whole school, and every time, Harry was somehow dragged along and ended up saving both them and the school. Unfortunately, he never got any credit, not even for trying, and all the credit went to his brother, with some for Weasley and Granger sometimes, for saving Hogwarts and his 'foolish younger brother'. Just last year he had defeated a group of Death Eaters that had attacked Hogsmeade Village while some of the students were visiting. However, a young Gryffindor third year had seen him dueling Antonin Dolohov himself. The duel had resulted in the Death Eater's capture and caused the group to retreat. Thinking Harry was his brother, the girl had told everyone she met about the heroics of 'brave John Potter'. John himself was praised and congratulated by the new Minister Rufus Scrimgeour and offered a place in the Auror Corps. John had refused as he wanted to become a famous Quidditch player. Harry was thankful as he was planning on joining the Auror Corps.

"Here's the deal," Death said as he leaned forward so that his skull was inches from Harry's, "I will send you back to the world of the living, _again_, and the next time I see you had better be when I come to collect you and your soul mate at the true end of your lives. And, if you come to see me again before all that, I _will_ take you with me to the afterlife, prophecy or no prophecy, do you understand me?"

A fearful Harry was about to nod when something Death said caught up with him. "SOUL MATE?"

Death leaned back and if he was able to smile, Harry thought that he would. "Ah, yes. I've forgotten one more thing, your soul mate. For some reason, to make up for your horrible destiny or something I guess, the Fates have decided to grant you a soul mate. She completes you in every way and is your perfect match or something like that; I don't really understand that whole thing about you mortals. Her name's Susan Bones or something like that."

Death was making motions with his hands that had Harry thinking that he was rolling his eyes. Harry knew Susan; she was a Hufflepuff in his year. All he really knew about her was that her aunt was Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and that she wasn't a very good dueler, as was revealed when she joined the D.A. in their fifth year. Death once again turned back to Harry. "I'm going to send you back now, and this time it will be right when you die instead of sometime before it. Also, you will remember this meeting unlike the other times as motivation to not die again. One more thing, this is going to hurt, a lot."

And with that, there was another flash and Harry knew no more.

Harry heard voices all around him; all he knew was blackness and pain. He realized that the darkness came from having his eyes closed and he quickly opened them. He regretted that at once because the bright light hurt. Snapping them closed again, Harry waited a couple of seconds before slowly opening them again. The light wasn't as bright and didn't hurt as much, but it still caused Harry to groan out loud. This caught the attention of the owners of the voices.

"And he's alive!" This came from the loud Sirius Black. The man in question leaned over and gave Harry one of his trademark smiles that caused many a woman to swoon.

Harry groaned again. "Uh, Uncle Sirius, too loud." He closed his eyes again and brought up his hand to his eyes to rub them. Another voiced sounded out, this one a female's.

"Oh thank goodness. And be quiet Black, the boy needs his rest, he's lucky to be alive."

Harry almost shot up at the sound of the voice, it belonged to his mother. Lily Potter almost never showed any kind of affection towards her youngest son, it was always about John. Sure enough, the bright red hair and green eyes of his mother came into Harry's view.

"Oh Harry, must you antagonize your brother so much? You know he's an excellent dueler; you don't stand much of a chance against him, you could've been hurt far worse or even died."

Harry ignored her, much like he had always done his whole life. While it was true John was pretty good at dueling, Harry was far better, he had been the captain of the Ravenclaw Dueling Club since his third year. John's abilities were nothing compared to his own. Sitting up, Harry tried to ignore the pain on the back of his head.

"What exactly happened?"

"You and John got in another fight." This came from Harry's godfather and unofficial uncle Remus Lupin. "You two started dueling and John over powered his blasting curse. The ground in front of you exploded and you went flying and hit your head pretty hard. We brought you in here and healed you up the best we could, we thought we were going to lose you for a second or two."

Harry looked around; he was in the living room of his family's manor. He was sitting on the couch while his mother stood over him. Sirius Black stood a little off to the side while Remus was behind the couch. Harry's brother John was over by the fireplace along with his angry father.

"You just had to ruin John's birthday didn't you?" James Potter's face was as red as his wife's hair. Harry didn't even consider trying to correct him that it was his birthday too. "You're in deep trouble now young man; you're grounded for the rest of the summer. Go up to your room and stay there until I say you can come down." James left in a huff closely followed by a smirking John.

Harry sighed; his father was treating him like he was ten years old again. He had forgotten that Harry was now seventeen and a legal adult in the wizarding world. Still, Harry decided not to correct him as it would result in worse punishment. Lily caressed the top of Harry's head.

"Your father is just upset about the duel, John didn't do as well as he should and then your accident. I know his punishment is a little harsh but you did ruin John's birthday. Just go upstairs for a bit and I'll try and cool him off a bit so that your punishment isn't for the rest of the summer. Please try and behave just this once Harry."

She then gave Harry a kiss on the forehead and followed her husband. Harry just sighed. Both of his parents focused completely on John, a fact John teased Harry about to no end. Sometimes Lily acted like she cared about Harry just a little, but it was always for a short amount of time, barely lasting ten minutes. Harry had given up on thinking his parents actually cared about him. As if sensing his thoughts, Sirius sat down on the couch and put his arm around Harry.

"Aw, cheer up kiddo, you know that they mean well. It's just that John takes up all of their attention because he's the Boy-Who-Lived. Besides, it's your birthday!"

Harry smiled a little. Sirius and Remus were the only ones in his family that treated Harry well. Although Sirius was John's godfather, he gave them equal attention because he understood how Harry felt growing up. Remus stuck with Harry because not only was he the boy's godfather but because he was very intelligent. From a young age, Harry taught himself how to read and write by himself so as to impress his parents. He also studied really hard at school and was one of the top students along with Hermione Granger of Gryffindor and Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin.

Harry gave a little smile to his uncles and walked up to his room. Once inside he closed the door with a slam, which woke up his pet owl Hedwig.

"Sorry girl." Harry apologized.

The Snowy Owl continued to screech for a while until Harry managed to calm her down. After nibbling his fingers a little hard for being woken up, Hedwig flew up to the top of Harry's dresser for a bit more sleep. Sighing again, Harry turned and fell on his bed. As he did, he felt something stab into his back. Sitting up, Harry turned around to look at the offending object. It was a birthday present wrapped in silver paper and tied with a blue ribbon. Harry smiled as he knew who the gift was from.

Both Sirius and Remus had been pooling some money together for a mixture of a birthday and Christmas present for Harry; his own house in London while his mother just gave him a watch. Neither James nor John had thought to get Harry a birthday present. Unwrapping the present, Harry read the note enclosed inside.

_Happy birthday Harry,_

_ Daddy and I are still in Norway looking for Crumble-Horned Snorkacks so I can't give this to you in person like I wanted. It's a charm I made to protect your from Wrackspurts. You'll need it this year with your N.E.W.T. exams, don't want to fail them do you? Daddy also tried to charm it so that it'll help you think clearer. It worked for me but I don't know about you, so it might work. We'll be back in about a week so hopefully we can go shopping together. I'll see you soon. _

_Love Luna_

Harry let of a short chuckle at his only friend. He and Luna had been friends since halfway through his second year at Hogwarts. He was believed to be the Heir of Slytherin at the time and Luna was being teased about her oddness. Harry chased the bullies off and the two outcasts became friends from then on. They had once tried to date each other, Harry had taken her to the Yule Ball because he thought she would like to see it and then they went on an official date two weeks late. They both enjoyed themselves but agreed that it was probably best to just remain friends. Harry know considered Luna to be his sister and Luna saw Harry as her older brother.

Luna had given Harry a necklace with a silver charm of a raven, Harry's Patronus. This reminded Harry of the one year John didn't have a real adventure. With the escape of Peter Pettigrew from Azkaban that summer, James and Lily had forbidden John, and Harry, from going to Hogsmeade Village during the school year. John had been furious and with the help of the Weasley twins, had somehow managed to sneak out of Hogwarts multiple times before Snape had caught him. Harry however, was punished because it was assumed that he had done the same thing, never mind that there were a dozen eyewitnesses that swore that Harry never went or that John had not only an Invisibility Cloak from their father but a map that showed where everyone was at Hogwarts, a map Harry found out about in their fifth year.

Putting the necklace on, Harry didn't feel any different, but this was Luna he was talking about. Keeping the necklace on, Harry laid back on his bed and thought. So far, this summer had been more exciting than any other, even more exciting than the summer before his fourth year when they went to the Quidditch World Cup and the Death Eaters attacked. This summer he had participated in the wedding of Remus and his friend Nymphadora Tonks, dueled his brother, died, met Death himself, and been grounded for the first time in six years. Sometimes, it was times like this he wished that he had another sibling to talk with but after Voldemort's attack, Lily was unable to have any more children.

Fingering Luna's charm, Harry knew that Luna was right about his exams, he didn't want to fail his N.E.W.T.s if he wanted to get into the Auror's Academy after Hogwarts. He had achieved an O ranking on all of his ten O.W.L.s except for History of Magic and had continued with DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy. He also planned to go down to the Ministry to take the Muggle Studies O.W.L. exam this summer as he had been studying for the last couple of years. That was more than John, who had seven O.W.L.s and had continued only with DADA, Charms, and Transfiguration. He said that as a famous Quidditch player he wouldn't need very many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s and had only gone with his current classes to defeat Voldemort.

Though Harry was loath to admit it, John probably would be a famous Quidditch player like he wanted. Inheriting his father's skills, John had made Gryffindor Seeker when he was only a first year and then made Captain in his sixth. Harry was just as good, but had only made Seeker in his second year. John was allowed to play as a first year because of his Boy-Who-Lived status. Surprisingly, in their entire time playing Quidditch, Harry had never played against his brother. In their second year Quidditch was cancelled because of the Chamber of Secrets, in third year Harry got a nasty case of the flu and couldn't leave the Hospital Wing for days, fourth year was the Triwizard Tournament, fifth year John was banned, and last year John was serving a detention. Another perk of being the Boy-Who-Lived was being granted Prefect status. Harry had earned his status through hard work and dedication and he felt that it was the same way he was going to get the Head Boy badge in a couple of days, there really were very few candidates for the job.

**Questions? Reviews?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Answer time for some of those questions you've asked. First off Harry is in Ravenclaw, it was mentioned only a couple of time, and John is the older brother. Harry is the better duelist, though John got a lucky shot in with a blasting curse at the ground. I don't care how good you are, physics always wins that battle so Harry was sent flying into a wall and broke his neck. As for Remus and Sirius pooling money, Remus doesn't have much and he and Sirius don't what Sirius to finance all of it and want to split it evenly. Also, Harry is Remus's godson, not Sirius's, so Sirius can't really pay for it all. Finally, to ROBERT-19588, I'm afraid you've been reading too many fanfics that act unreasonable. Now that his is seventeen, all tracking devices on his wand are now gone, there are no more, John is also seventeen and is the older brother, so Harry doesn't get much of an inheritance. There are no such things as Skill/Heritage tests and he doesn't need a medical check-up. Everything you're asking would apply **_**if**_** Harry was leaving with the Dursleys, but his not. **

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><p>Somehow, Harry didn't know how, Lily was able to reduce Harry's punishment, though not by much. He was told that because it <em>was<em> his birthday after all, he wouldn't be punished that day or the next, but he was still grounded for the rest of the summer. A little surprised, Harry accepted what he got. The next day, the Potters were chatting excitedly about how John would be made Head Boy as they waited for the Hogwarts letters that were due that morning. Smirking to himself about the looks of surprise that his parents and John were going to get, Harry took his seat while saying good morning to Sirius, who was reading the _Daily Prophet_.

Harry had just finished his eggs when Lily squealed and pointed out the window. Flying towards them were two owls with letters. They flew through the open window and dropped the letters on the table before flying out again. Harry could see the Hogwarts crest on his. He slowly picked up his own letter and noticed that it was heavier than normal. Smirking heavily, Harry tore open the letter and shook it so that the badge would fall into his hand. Sure enough, a gleaming badge fell out of the letter, but it wasn't a Head Boy badge. Looking up at Harry was the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain's badge. With a jolt, Harry remembered that Jason Samuels had graduated last year leaving the Captain's position open.

Harry's thoughts were broken by a loud whoop. Turning, Harry saw John dancing, the Head Boy's badge held high above his head. Harry felt like he had been punched in the stomach, John didn't have the best grades in school, took almost the minimum amount of classes necessary, had a reputation of being a bully, and a host of other things that should have made his qualification null. Harry meanwhile, was probably second best in Hogwarts after Hermione Granger and had excellent leadership abilities from being a Prefect and Dueling Captain. Yet again he got something he didn't deserve because he was the Boy-Who-Lived. Angry, Harry ignored his parents, John, and Sirius and ran out of the house. Running for a couple of minutes, Harry found the largest rock he could and sent the most powerful Blasting Curse he could at it. The boulder turned to dust in a snap. Still feeling the adrenaline, Harry let out a loud, long scream in frustration. Finally, Harry fell on his hands and knees and cried.

The excitement of John getting the Head Boy's badge did at least one good thing for Harry. Happy that their eldest son was Head Boy, the Potter parents forgot all about Harry's punishment which meant that he was allowed to go flying and visit Luna when she got back from her trip. Knowing that Luna believed in many strange things, Harry thought that she might believe him about his Death experience.

"Wow, you met Death himself? What was he like?"

"Luna!"

"I'm sorry Harry, but you're the fourth wizard to meet Death and live. I'm curious."

Harry just shook his head at his friend's antics. "I told you, I met him before and he's not happy with me or Voldemort." Luna flinched at the name and Harry sighed. He had thought that being friends for almost six years would allow Luna to get rid of her fear of the name. Outside of his family, Harry only knew one person who spoke the wizard's true name; Dumbledore. Everyone else, including John, used You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"I imagine he would be, with you dying all those times and You-Know-Who never dying, it must get annoying. Oh, and you're the real Boy-Who-Lived too, that's exciting!"

Harry closed his eyes and thought. He had never given much thought to the idea that he was the real Boy-Who-Lived after his birthday. Like Death said, it made sense. The entire Potter family knew the prophecy that spoke of Voldemort's defeat because Dumbledore revealed it during Harry's fifth year after the man destroyed the recording to prevent Voldemort from getting it. Harry certainly fit the requirements and had the mark to prove it. Harry also believed that he was Voldemort's equal; he had extraordinary dueling abilities, top marks in magic, spoke Parseltongue, and could even sometimes see into Voldemort's mind. He had even defeated two weakened forms of Voldemort, once in his shadow form in his first year and in memory form in his second. His near defeat of Dolohov last year almost proved the whole thing.

"And don't forget about Susan."

Harry's eyes snapped open. "How can I?"

Luna gave Harry a little smirk. "Can't get her out your head already Harry?"

"Luna! I've just been told that she's supposed to be my soul mate, my perfect match in every way; how am I supposed to get her out of my head when I've been told that? I barely know her."

Luna gave Harry a pity smile, scooted closer to him from where she sat on her bed and gave him a one armed hug. "As your best friend and little sister, I'm telling you to take things slowly and get her to notice you before you ask her out. Then, treat her right and make her feel wonderful and you'll have no problems."

Harry smiled down at the blonde girl next to him. "Thanks Luan, you're a real good sister."

Luna gave a mischievous smirk. "So, as a little sister, am I allowed to tease you about her?"

Despite Luna's helpful, and sometimes not so helpful advice, Harry still had no idea how he was going to approach Susan at the start of the school year. Reviewing his memories of her at Hogwarts, he was surprised that he had never noticed how beautiful she looked. While neither overly short nor tall, Susan looked to be average at a first glance, but a second revealed much more. Standing just an inch or two under Harry, she had long orange-red hair, a joke in the Potter family about their women, and bright light brown eyes. What he remembered of her personality was that she was a little shy and soft spoken, but a very loyal and good friend, a trait of her house Hufflepuff. He spent days working on how to speak to her once he saw her either on the Hogwarts Express or at the castle itself. In the end, he decided to wing it when they surprisingly met in Diagon Alley.

He was in Flourish and Blotts, looking for a new Defense Against the Dark Arts book, when he saw a flash of red behind the shelf in front of him. Peering through the small gap between the books, Harry looked for a couple of seconds before asking, "Susan?"

There came an 'Eep!' of surprise and the sound of falling books. Moving quickly, Harry moved around the shelf and saw that it was Susan who had been behind it, her books all over the floor.

"Harry, you scared me."

Harry gave a small smile; Susan was one of only a small handful of students that could tell him apart from his brother. Sometimes, being twins was just annoying. Being identical twins, Harry and John had very few differences between them. The most obvious was the scars, Harry's lightning bolt to John's star. These scars also attributed to another feature that told the two apart; their hair. John kept his hair short so as to show off his famous scar to all who saw it while Harry liked to keep his long to hide his scar. These were the major differences, but there were other, smaller ones like how John kept himself as pampered as a peacock. Thinking looks were everything, John kept himself looking his best, getting tips from Lockhart when he was their teacher before the two entered into a small fame war. Knowing that girls wouldn't like a fat hero, John also kept himself in good physical shape, though he hated exercise. Quidditch training helped out a bit here.

Bending down to help Susan pick up her books, Harry apologized. "Sorry Susan, I thought I recognized you and had to ask." He gave her a small smile.

Blushing lightly, Susan said, "It's O.K. Harry, I'm just a bit jumpy these days, yah know?"

Harry nodded, he knew how she felt. "Sorry," he said again before turning back to her books. Looking closely, he saw that one of the books he picked up was about shield spells while another was about basic jinxes, hexes, and spells. Looking up, he asked "Looking to join the Aurors like your Aunt?"

Susan shook her head sadly. "No, I just grabbed them for some study work, I'm horrible at Defense. However, I want to be able to defend myself so I'm getting them to help. What I really want to do is become a Healer at St. Mungo's, that way I can help in the war without fighting. My Aunt is really pleased."

Standing up, Harry handed the books back to her. "If you want, I can tutor you in Defense, I'm fairly good myself." The words just flowed from Harry's mouth without any thought and he felt himself slightly blushing.

Hugging her books to herself, Susan's smile grew a bit. "That would be really great, and helpful, thank-you Harry. I'll give you some times that could work for me once we reach Hogwarts."

She then turned around and started to walk away. Sad that she was leaving earlier than he would've liked and wanting to continue talking with her just a little longer, Harry called out, "It's a date" before he could stop himself. Susan turned her head slightly so that they could make eye contact.

"Sorry Harry, but I'm actually dating Seamus Finnegan right now. Sorry." She gave him a small shrug and continued walking, her long hair swinging behind her.

Felling as if someone had just punched him in the gut, Harry stared after her and said so quietly that he could barely hear himself, "Oh, good-bye." Depressed, Harry tried to finish his shopping as quickly as possible just so he could escape the Alley. He barely paid any attention to what he was buying and didn't spend any extra time on most of the stuff he normally would have. He even avoid going to Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at the new model of broom that had just come out with his father and brother. He thought that what he was feeling on the inside must be showing on the outside as his mother gave him a sad look when she saw him and Luna patted his arm sympathetically as they continued shopping.

For the rest of the summer, Harry ignored John's boosts about his new badge to the best of his ability. Everywhere Harry went, John found some way to annoy Harry, even when he was in his room, John would fly past the window yelling loudly. Harry thought that John knew that he was actually unqualified for Head Boy and that Harry would've been the real recipient so he lorded it over him as much as he could. In some ways, he was actually happy that he didn't get the badge; being Head Boy was a large responsibility and he already had a large work loud with taking seven N.E.W.T. courses. He knew that the Hermione would most likely be Head Girl and that she wouldn't fall because she didn't have any extra activities like he did with the Ravenclaw Dueling Club and Quidditch Team.

To prepare for the upcoming school year, Harry reviewed his notes and books from the past two years as well as his new ones. He also started to plan strategies for the Quidditch Team and Dueling Club. However, much of Quidditch depended on who made the Team and how they flew. The Dueling Club relied on similar things; who joined and good they were, though Harry planned to make sure everyone who joined was the best at Hogwarts, there were rumors that this year there would be some trophy. If anything, he wanted that trophy to prove that he was the best, no doubt John would join the Gryffindor Dueling Club to try and claim it for himself. He also helped Luna with her homework that she missed while she was in Norway.

On the morning of September First, Harry Apparated to Kings Cross with his things. Without waiting for the rest of his family to arrive, Harry made his way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He had just reached the barrier when he heard John's complaints about him still having to Side-Apparate. Smirking, Harry went through the barrier and onto the platform. A smiling Luna was waiting for him and together they made their way to the Hogwarts Express and claimed a lone compartment. Then, Harry quickly changed into his Hogwarts robes and pinned his Prefects badge below his House crest on the left of his robes, and his Quidditch and Duel Captains badges on his right. Saying a quick bye to Luna, he made his way to the Prefect's Carriage at the front. The only one there at the moment was the new Head Girl Hermione Granger.

"Hello Harry, how are you?"

"I'm fine Hermione, thank-you for asking. How was your summer?"

The brunette shrugged a little. "It was alright, me and my parents took a trip to Australia for a couple of weeks. It was nice to get out of the country for a bit. Are you the new Head Boy?"

She sounded a little hopeful. Harry shook his head sadly. "No, that's John, though don't expect him until just before the trip starts."

Hermione frowned slightly at this and Harry allowed himself a little smile. Out of all of John's friends, Harry liked Hermione the most. Smart and studious, she acted like a real Ravenclaw despite the fact that she was in Gryffindor. Her bossiness and complete regard to following all of the rules all the time didn't earn her very many friends in the past, but Harry knew that was how she was. She was also very friendly and willing to lend a hand, something that attracted him to her a little. They had almost become friends in their first year and it was Hermione that had asked for his help during the Triwizard Tournament, which had allowed John to win, not through his own skill like he would've wanted. She had also invited him to join Dumbledore's Army in fifth year, which had helped in his dueling. From the expression on her face, Harry believed that she thought he ought to have been made Head Boy instead.

Within an hour, most of the remaining Prefects had arrived and the Hogwarts Express was leaving the station. Standing at the front of the carriage was clearly upset Hermione, who was looking out at twenty of her fellow students arranged out in a circle. Setting on the side to her left, Harry looked nervously at the witch next to him, who was now starting to tap her foot impatiently. As the closest to her, Harry was given a glance at by the other Prefects to ask Hermione to start the meeting. No one, including Harry, wanted to say anything to an angry Hermione Granger. Finally, five minutes after the Express had left London behind, John Potter scrambled in, his robes all messed up.

"And just where have _you_ been?"

Harry had to give his brother credit, being able to whiter the glare Hermione was giving him. Even Draco Malfoy was backing up in his seat to avoid being in range. This had to been one of the reasons Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had Hermione be a Prefect and Head Girl, Harry thought; the ability to fill the strongest and bravest people with complete fear. It sort of reminded him of the time Remus had taught his third years about boggarts.

"Well, you see," he said sheepishly, "I, got distracted a bit and, forgot, about the meeting."

Harry didn't believe a word about it, and from the way she looked, neither did Hermione. She glared at him for a few more seconds before she forcefully pulled John next to her to start the meeting. John's tardiness affected Hermione's mood the entire meeting, she kept glancing at him in annoyance and her voice still held a hint of anger. Hermione directed the whole meeting, giving out patrol schedules, assigning teams, and laying out the rules, which were greater in number than Harry remembered, while John just sat back quietly. Slowly, his face turned from one of fear to one of complete relax and laziness. Sighing and shaking his head at him, Harry couldn't help but wonder what made Dumbledore think that John would make a good Head Boy.

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><p><strong>There is the second chapter along with some of the answers you've been looking for. I will give more answers on HarryJohn's adventures as we go along. If you have any more questions, just ask. Also, I've started another story, **_**A Squib's Revenge**_**, so this story may go a little slowly depending on the reviews each story gets. I am also looking for a beta reader for this story. Please read, review, and ask questions.**


	3. Chapter 3

After the Prefects meeting, Harry went back to the compartment he shared with Luna. She was still there, reading the _Quibbler_, the magazine her father ran, upside-down, but she wasn't alone. Neville Longbottom, a forgetful boy in Gryffindor House and in Harry's year, was there as well. Neville was an almost friend to Harry, they knew each other and hung out a bit during their fifth and sixth years, but neither of them considered themselves friends. Neville had also dated Luna for two months last year before she broke it off. He was currently giving nervous glances at his ex-girlfriend and Harry thought he paled a little when her unofficial older brother entered the compartment.

"How are you doing Neville?"

"Oh, hey Harry. I'm fine, how was the Prefects meeting? Who are the new Heads?"

Sighing, Harry sat down next to Luna, across from Neville. "It's quiet obvious isn't it? Of course Dumbledore would choose his golden boy and can you think of anyone else in our year besides Hermione who would be made Head Girl?"

"No, I guess not." he said blushing a bit. Harry knew that he had a small crush on the girl up until fifth year.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Not much, me and Gran haven't left home much since the mass break-out during fifth year." He looked down and Harry knew that he was remembering that Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who had tortured his parents into insanity, was still lose. "I've done a lot of gardening though, it helps relieve the stress this war has caused. Hannah has joined me sometimes too."

Harry sat up. "Hannah Abbott?" Hannah was a Hufflepuff Prefect in their year who was best friends with Susan.

"Yah, she's really good at Herbology too, and we started dating in the last few days of last year. I invited her over a couple of times and she helped me with my greenhouses."

Harry sat back in his seat thinking as Luna and Neville continued to talk about their summers. He was debating whether or not to try and include Neville as a friend. If he did, Hannah might tag along and then maybe Susan as well. It seemed like a good idea, but Harry didn't want Neville to think he was only using him.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Neville asking, "Really Harry?"

"Huh?" He looked up to see Luna smirking at him and Neville giving him a curious glance. "What did you say Neville?"

"Luna said that you've started to take an interest in Susan Bones, is that true?"

Harry turned to glare at his sister who was looking up at the ceiling with an innocent look. With a sigh, he turned back to Neville and gave a small nod. Neville broke out into a smile.

"That's great Harry, Hannah's told me she gets a little lonely sometimes at Hogwarts. That, and I've heard some talk about how you two would make a nice couple."

"Really?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yah, a handful of people talk about how you Potters always marry red-heads, and with John dating Ginny, there aren't very many red-heads left at Hogwarts. But you may have to wait though, she's currently dating Seamus."

"I know, I ran into her in Diagon Alley."

Neville and Luna continued to talk about the pervious summer and upcoming year, trying to avoid anything related to the war as much as possible. Harry sometimes joined in, offering a new topic or putting in a word or two, but mostly stayed quiet. They were joined by Hannah a few minutes after the snack trolley passed, her patrol finally done. In her plan to make things run smoothly, Hermione had paired every fifty year Prefect with a seventh year and one or two sixth years to show them the ropes. Hannah was a part of the first patrol and Harry was to start the second, leaving not long after Hannah arrived.

Harry's partner was the new Slytherin Prefect Amber Coles. It was another plan of Hermione's, pair up the different houses to promote inter-school unity. Amber was shy and quiet but took to Harry's teachings like a fish to water. He found out that just because she was shy and quiet around him didn't mean she wasn't like that always. When they found a group of fourth year Gryffindors teasing a couple of new first years, Amber had shouted at them when they refused to listen to Harry and had left his ears ringing. Harry didn't know if that came from her new post, the differences in houses, or the lewd comments the boys made, but it got the job done fast, even they were afraid of Hermione.

With ten minutes left until the Express reached Hogwarts, Harry let Amber return to her friends and finished his patrol by himself. There wasn't much left for him to do as they were so close to Hogwarts. All he found were a sixth year couple misusing one of the bathrooms and a bunch of second years practicing magic a little over their heads on one of their friends. When they arrived in Hogsmeade Station, Harry directed the younger students where to go, mostly the second years as Professor Hagrid took the first years. He then found Luna waiting by herself in one of the last carriages. After giving a small pet to the Thestral pulling the carriage, Harry got in himself.

He had been able to see the Thestrals ever since the beginning of his second year. It took a couple of months of searching the Hogwarts library to find out about the animals. As no one else could see them, and Harry was hearing a weird voice in the walls, he thought he was going crazy. He eventually found a book on unusual and dangerous creatures during Christmas Break and that was how he found out about the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. He knew why he could see the creatures, it was because he had witnessed the death of Professor Quirrell the previous year.

When Harry and John had confronted Quirrell, not Snape as they both expected, in the Mirror Chamber near the end of their first year, Quirrell had knocked out John and forced Harry to get the Sorcerer's Stone for him. Then, after a short skirmish between him and a shade of Voldemort, Harry had watched as Quirrell crumbled to dust before his very eyes. Fainting in shock, fatigue, and horror, Harry had dropped the Stone only for John to pick it up a second later as he woke up in time for Professor Dumbledore to storm in. Hence was the beginning of John's 'heroic actions' and Harry's 'foolish attempts in attention seeking'.

It was starting to rain a little by the time they reached the main doors into Hogwarts. Luna quickly ran in, trying to get out of the rain while Harry stayed behind long enough to give the Thestral one last pat. The creature however, had other ideas. It grabbed him by the sleeve and forced him to pet it a little while longer before it released him. Harry knew the animals were smart and that he did this with every Thestral that gave him a ride. Unseen and most likely unappreciated, the Thestrals took what they could from one of the few that paid attention to them. In a way, Harry felt like them; there, but unseen and unappreciated.

When the Thestral finally released him, Harry ran up the steps after Luna, who was waiting for him in the Entrance Hall. A couple of quick drying charms later, and the two entered the Great Hall and found their seats at the Ravenclaw Table. Looking up at the High Table, Harry saw that only Professors Hagrid and McGonagall were missing, still dealing with the first years. He then looked closely at the teacher, trying to see who would teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts this year and his eyes found hair of bubblegum pink. With a jolt, Harry saw that Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, the new wife of his godfather, Sirius's cousin, and one of the few people that paid any attention to him, was teaching this year. Harry began to fear for his friend, there were rumors that the DADA post was cursed because no one lasted for more than a year. Quirrell was killed, Lockhart lost him memory, Lupin was forced to quit, Moody was captured and imprisoned in his own trunk, Umbridge was arrested for Dark Magic, and Professor Adofo, an Egyptian wizard Dumbledore hired last year, had lost most his right arm in a dueling accident just before exams. Harry didn't want anything to happen to her, not only would he lose a good friend but Lupin would be heartbroken.

The doors to the Great Hall burst open and dozens slightly wet first years followed McGonagall in. Harry, along with the majority of older student, watched the new students walk between the tables and up before the High Table before stopping at the stool that held the Sorting Hat. The Hat then broke into song, singing of his coming into binging and school unity. Harry didn't really listen but one part made him focus. That Hat talked about seeking truth in the lies and Harry swore that the Hat looked at him at that point. Luna turned to look at Harry with a smirk while he thought. This wasn't the first time the Hat had hinted at knowing truth. In his third year, the Hat said something similar, only talking about a duel between Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor with his sword, a reference about Harry's defeat of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

Knowing what was in the Chamber, Harry had followed his brother and Ron Weasley down to it. How the boys managed to open the secret entrance without speaking Parseltongue he would never know. The boys used his presence as 'proof' that he really was the Heir of Slytherin and demanded that he release Ginny, who had been taken into the Chamber, at once. Lockhart used this distraction to seize Ron's broken wand and accidently caused and avalanche and his memory loss, separating Harry and John from Lockhart and Ron. The two brothers continued deeper into the Chamber and found Ginny and the real Heir, a shade of Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort.

Riddle summoned the Basilisk, forcing the two brothers to separate to protect themselves. Using his knowledge of the Basilisk to good use, Harry warned his brother of its deadliness. Then Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes arrived with the Sorting Hat, which it dropped at John's feet. John withdrew the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat somehow while Fawkes blinded the Basilisk. The Basilisk got its revenge however when it bit Fawkes, causing the phoenix to turn to ash. John then took Fawkes's place in battling the great snake, despite Harry's objections, but was knocked out by the snake's tail, the sword flying to the ground at Harry's feet.

Forced to defend himself against the king of serpents, Harry held the sword out as it lunged at him. Impaling the snake in the roof of its mouth with the sword, Harry just barely managed to avoid cutting his arms on the snake's poisonous fangs. Riddle, angry at the loss of his ancestor's snake, tried to curse Harry, but he ran. Using clues from Riddle, Harry tore one of the fangs from the Basilisk's mouth and stabbed it into the diary Ginny had. Riddle then burst into a shower of gold dust. Concerned for Ginny, Harry knelt over her while John, who had come to, ripped the sword from the Basilisk's mouth. Carrying a crying Ginny and a baby phoenix, while John took the Hat, sword, and diary, the two brothers exited the Chamber.

While John took everything to Dumbledore's office, Harry escorted Ginny to the Hospital Wing, being possessed by a shade of Lord Voldemort couldn't be good for your health. There, Harry put Ginny into the hand of Madam Pomfrey, who was giving out Mandrake Draught out to the Basilisk's victims, before he collapsed into one of the Hospital's beds. Only later did Harry learn that John once again claimed credit for everything. There was little Harry could do to argue this as Ginny confirmed John's slaying of a Basilisk because he was pulling the sword from its mouth while Harry was just standing over her. All Harry got for his trouble was a pat on the back from Madam Pomfrey from bring Ginny straight to her after her ordeal in the Chamber, not even a thanks from Mrs. Weasley. Even Fawkes, as Dumbledore's familiar, was unable to do anything as he couldn't see anything from his spot on the floor and do to the fact that he was a baby phoenix when it all happened.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by clapping, the Sorting Hat had finished its song. Clapping along with the rest of the student body, Harry just slouched in his seat. Not really paying attention to the Sorting, only clapping when everyone around him did, Harry just wished that the Feast would start. At long last, the last student was sorted into Slytherin and Dumbledore began the Feast. Starving, Harry piled roast beef, potatoes, and carrots onto his plate and began eating quickly, but with manners. He only joined in on the conversation around him when asked a question and offered advice to the new Ravenclaw Prefects along with Padma Patil, his female counterpart.

Looking around the Hall, Harry saw Susan and Hannah giggling at the Hufflepuff table and sneaking glances over to their boyfriends who were eating together at the Gryffindor table. Harry wondered whether Neville had told Hannah that he liked her best friend, and if he had, if Hannah had told Susan. Deciding not to worry about too much, Harry turned to another group of Gryffindors. Hermione Granger still appeared cross, only now it had turned to her new boyfriend as well. Much to the relief on many, and to the disgruntle of some as money changed hand, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had finally gotten together on the train home at the end of the year last year. The two were the most obvious couple and Harry didn't know what she saw in him as he was an idiot with no manners. Currently, his brother and his best friend where shoveling food in their mouths by the handful while the girl across from them was quietly, forcefully scolding them.

As soon as dessert was finished, everyone drew quiet as Professor Dumbledore stood up. Raising his arms up, he said "Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Before we all retire for the night, I have a few start of term notices to give out. First, the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden, Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that there is no magic to be used in the corridors and that the list of banned items, which now number one thousand, two hundred, and sixty-seven, is posted next to his office. Next, please join me in welcoming our new Defense  
>Against the Dark Arts professor, the newly married Auror Nymphadora" the new professor scowled at her first name, "Tonks-Lupin."<p>

Most of the hall clapped politely and a few boys looked down, unhappy that their new professor was off the market. Harry also saw John and Hermione smirk. Hermione was happy that they finally had a competent teacher besides Remus and Moody. John was most likely hoping for special treatment and an easy pass because they knew each other. Harry knew that Tonks wouldn't go for it. Although she was laid-back and friendly, she was almost as strict as McGonagall. As the clapping subsided, Dumbledore continued.

"And, I have one final announcement. After much consideration and, according to Professor Flitwick, much begging, I have finally decided to allow the Inter-Hogwarts Dueling Championship." The whole hall started buzzing at this. Harry smiled; he was one of the people that had suggested it. "Over the school year, along with the regular Inter-House Quidditch Cup, students will have the opportunity to represent their house in a group of their fellows to compete for the new Hogwarts Dueling Trophy. The regular Dueling Club will still be allowed, but members may be called upon to compete. For those who wish to join their house team, please seek out you house's Dueling Club Captain. For those of you who don't know your Captain, here they are. For Gryffindor; Angus Matlock!"

Gryffindor house cheered loudly as their Captain stood. A sixth year, Matlock was very controlling as a Captain, but pretty good at leading. Harry knew that his counterpart was smart, but would focus more on Slytherin, a weakness Harry would exploit. Taking a quick look at his brother, Harry saw that John wasn't happy that he wasn't a Captain of something. No doubt he would try to fix it right away."

"For Slytherin; Marcus Boland!"

Not wanting to be outdone, Slytherin tried to cheer louder than the Gryffindors. Like Matlock, Boland stood and waved his hands, encouraging his house to cheer louder. Like John, Draco Malfoy looked unhappy about not being Captain. No doubt he would use his father's influence to bully the fifth year out of his Captain's spot.

"For Hufflepuff; Albert Richardson!"

Hufflepuff showed their house loyalty by cheering and whistling. The fifth year Captain stood and bowed to everyone. Out of the other Captains, Harry like Albert the most as he was a honest competitor and believed in fair play. Up at the High Table, Tonks let out a small cheer for her former house that caused a handful of people to chuckle.

"And finally, for Ravenclaw; Harry Potter!"

Although Harry's house didn't cheer the loudest, it did have the most people cheering. Since his third year, Harry had led the Ravenclaw Dueling Club, practically starting it up. While Lockhart's Dueling Club had failed, Harry had persuaded some of his fellow housemates to continue studying dueling, supervised by Professor Flitwick. In his third year, the Dueling Club became official and Harry was persuaded to take up the role as Co-Captain with Rachel Samson, a seventh year. Like the others, Harry stood so everyone could see him, but he just waved to both sides of the Ravenclaw Table before sitting down. Taking a look at his brother, Harry saw that he was more upset than ever, most likely jealous of his status. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hannah nudge her friend and point to Harry. Susan gave him a small smile and Harry couldn't help but breakout into a large smile.

At last the Ravenclaws, who cheered the longest, quieted down and Dumbledore finished his announcements. "There are your Captain for the Dueling Club. Even if you don't want to compete, I suggest that you join the Club with the threat of Lord Voldemort. The schedule and rules for the Tournament will be posted outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professors Tonks-Lupin, Flitwick, and Snape will judge the Tournament throughout. The first round will be held in late October. Now, I think I have given you all plenty to think about, so off to bed with you all."

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><p><strong>There is the third chapter in <em>Scar &amp; Bones<em>. I've also revealed what happened in the first and second years and I hope the explanations are alright. As for all the new characters, I only don't own Angus Matlock, ever one else I own and made up. The Dueling Tournament will be an important part of the story but as we get closer to each match, I'll have to wait to post as I want to make them just right. Any questions? Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Harry wanted to talk with Tonks before bed so he let Padma take charge along with the new Ravenclaw Prefects. As quickly and politely as he could, Harry made his way through the hordes of students wanting to leave the Great Hall and go sleep in their comfy beds. It took a few minutes but Harry finally reached the High Table where Tonks was waiting for him.

"Wotcher Harry!"

"Tonks, I didn't know you were the new Defense Professor, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Professor Dumbledore is having a harder time finding people to take the post, so he asked members of the Order. As I was the only one who volunteered and with the fact that I'm an Auror, I got the job." She said this very smugly.

"But it's dangerous, I don't want to see you get hurt, and aren't you pregnant?"

Tonks's happy face turned to one of shock. "How did you find out about that, we have told anyone yet, not even my parents."

"Remus came around our house last night, seeking comfort from Sirius and James. He was worried about his kid inheriting his lycanthropy and then about the fact that its father is a werewolf. He seemed pretty upset."

"Remus did disappear for a while last night. What happened?" Tonks sounded worried.

"Well, first Sirius and James toasted you and Remus, 'the next generation of the Marauders' they said. After a couple of drinks, Remus again stated his fears, thinking everything he had done was a mistake. They spent nearly a half an hour arguing back and forth before I finally managed to make him see reason."

"Thank-you for that Harry. When he came back, Remus was a little angry but he quickly became happy for us; he was so excited. He wants you to be godfather you know?"

"Really?"

"Yes, he asked me before we went to bed. He was most insistent and I just couldn't say no."

"Thanks for that Tonks, but now I have a new reason for wanting you to be careful, I actually want to meet my godchild."

"Oh Harry, you're just like Remus. I'll be careful, and I have his and Moody's notes from when they taught here. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

As she was finishing talking, Tonks waved her hand about and it knocked over her half finish goblet. The goblet fell on her fork, which went flying into the air and landed with its prongs in the table, an inch from Harry's left hand. Tonks gave him an apologetic look as he raised his eyebrows at her. Shaking his head, Harry left her and headed back to Ravenclaw Tower. The entire way, Harry was thinking how to help Ravenclaw win the Dueling Trophy. Dozens of strategies, plans, and move passed through Harry's mind, but in the end he figured it all would come down to the rules and who he had participate. Soon Harry reached the bronze knocker that guarded the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. Knocking once, Harry waited for his riddle.

"What herb cures all ailments?"

Harry smirked at this one, it was a trick question.

"Time."

The eagle flapped its wings and the door opened. As he climbed through, Harry was swarmed by nearly all of Ravenclaw House wanting to join the Dueling Club and asking questions about the Tournament. It took five minutes for him to quiet everyone down and a couple more minutes to explain that he was going to go over all the rules first before scheduling a meeting. He also advised everyone who wanted to participate in the Tournament to do the same. After fending off a more questions, Harry finally climbed the stairs to his dorm. He quickly changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed and fell asleep.

After a good night's sleep, Harry was fully ready for class. A handful more of people delayed Harry leaving, having missed his announcement the previous night. Soon, Harry was leading a small group of first years through the halls down to breakfast. Padma and Luna were already there eating. Smiling, Harry said good morning to a half asleep Padma and a fully awake Luna, Harry grabbed a bowl of cereal and started eating. Ten minutes later Professor Flitwick was going around the table handing out schedules. Seeing he had Defense first thing, Harry said good-bye and went towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. When he arrived, he saw that a good number of students, including Draco Malfoy, were already looking at the rules for the Tournament.

Pushing his way through, Harry saw that the rules were numerous and some were complicated. To win the Tournament, a House had to win the most matches. There were a total of six matches, enough for each House to face the others once. In order to win the match, a House had to win two out of the three duels in the match. In each duel, a side had three duelists and the round only ended when all three on one side were unable to continue. If the two sides each had one win, they could instead have only one person compete to win that round. Each Dueling Club had to have seven people at minimum and the Captain must compete in each match.

Those were the basic rules though Harry planned to go over them more finely later, each Captain would get their own copy at the meeting later. Taking one last look at the rules, Harry entered the classroom. It was only five minutes until the start and six others were already there, including Hermione and Susan. He took a seat near the front next to Neville and took out his book, quill, and ink. As he was doing this, he saw Seamus enter the classroom, cross over to Susan and give her a kiss on the cheek, and then claim his seat behind her. Harry frowned and glared at Seamus for a couple of seconds. A minute before class started, John and Ron ran in and claimed the desk next to Harry.

Harry frowned once again at the smiling boys. They looked like they had just done something against the rules and hadn't gotten caught. From what Harry knew, they probably had. After the Weasley twins had left, John and Ron had replaced them as the major trouble makers at Hogwarts. A crash and 'ow' tore Harry's gaze from them. Tonks was lying on the floor next to her desk; she had tripped again while moving around it. While most of the class laughed, Tonks gave an embarrassed smile and Harry put his face in his palms.

"Sorry about that, but that's one way to grab your attention. Welcome to seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm your Professor Tonks-Lupin, but you can all call me Tonks. I'm also an Auror and have been for three years. If anyone wants to join the Crops, the just have to tell me and I'll see what I can do to help you apply. First things first, everyone tell me your names and your experience in Defense, then I'll go over what we'll cover this year."

For a half hour, Harry listened to his classmates go over their various experiences. It got very boring after the first couple of people and only got interesting when someone had an interesting experience or plan with a N.E.W.T. in Defense. Everyone got annoyed when Hermione went into very heavy details about her experiences and again when John bragged about his adventures, all of them extremely exaggerated. Thank-fully for Harry's sanity, Tonks stopped John in mid reenactment of the First Task in the Triwizard Tournament. Harry also talked a bit about John's adventures, but a shorter version and how he was there. John and Ron looked angry, Hermione neutral, Neville a little awed, and the rest of the class annoyed. They had heard it all before, unremarkable Harry Potter, jealous of his brother's fame, attempting to gain some attention for himself. The only ones that believed him were Hermione, Luna, and Tonks, and maybe Neville.

As soon as the last person was finished, Tonks handed out a short syllabus that explained what they would cover and when. Harry noticed that much came from the Auror's training as well as protection from what Voldemort and his Death Eaters did and used. Tonks then had them start on the basics, Disarming and Shield Charms. She told them to start out loud and when they felt comfortable, turn to nonverbal. Harry's partner was Neville and he held back a bit for his sake. He kept his charms a little underpowered and made sure Neville was ready before attempting to disarm him. He also did use nonverbal spell-work as Neville wasn't fully ready for it. He wasn't the only one however.

Professor Adofo and the others started them on nonverbal spells last year but not very many got the hang of it. Harry was one of the few who did and managed to get a nonverbal spell to work after only a couple of tries. Hermione Granger was the only one who was now using nonverbal spells, causing her partner Fay Dunbar quite a bit of trouble. Suddenly, Hermione's wand flew out of her hand just as Fay was bringing her own up. Both girls were shocked and confused but Harry knew where to look. Sure enough, having gotten bored with each other, John and Ron had secretly turned their wands on their classmates, hexing them while no one was looking. Smirking, Harry decided to give them a taste of their own medicine. Quickly raising his own wand and aiming, Harry cast two nonverbal Disarming Charms so fast both boys had only enough time to blink before their wands flew out of their hands into Tonks's.

"Excellent spell-work Harry, twenty points to Ravenclaw. And as for you two, ten points each from Gryffindor for such childish behavior. Don't even think about arguing," she interrupted as Ron opened his mouth, "I saw what you were doing. It serves you right for losing your wands in such a manner. However, I have an idea. Harry, Miss Granger, to the front please, I want you two to give a demonstration on nonverbal spells."

Smiling, Harry enjoyed John's glare and glanced in Susan's direction. She had a small smile and look of interest on her face. Tonks's demonstration ended up being a Ping-Pong match between Harry and Hermione. She sent a spell silently towards him and he deflected it back at her. Soon the spell was crisscrossing the room between the two shields. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see money changing hands in several bets to see who would fail to bring up their shield in time first. Hermione had speed, but Harry had the power. Every time, Hermione would bring up her shield a fraction of a second faster, but would be pushed back an inch because of the power of the reflected spell. He was so focused that when the bell rang ending the class, Harry was distracted that his angle was off and instead of sending the spell back at Hermione, it went into the crowd of students and hit Seamus, sending him back a couple of feet and hitting a desk.

"Well, that ends class for today." said a surprised Tonks. "Homework is an essay on the Shield Charm, to be handed in next week, and keep practicing."

As they filed out of the classroom, Harry saw Dean help his friend up. Seamus was a little wobbly and glared at Harry before leaving. John and Ron also glared as they too left but Hermione gave him a smile and congratulations for his shields. Tonks also gave congratulations and ten points each. Harry and Ravenclaw's next class was Herbology so that filed out of the castle and to the greenhouses. Much like their fifth year, Professor Sprout started out her class with a lecture, only this time about N.E.W.T. exams. Then she had them go around the greenhouse and take notes on various plants and making them try and figure out what they were. For homework they had to research the plants, describe them, and identify the differences between them and others that looked like them.

After, it was back up to the castle for lunch and a small break before Transfiguration. Harry ate a quick lunch then went up to the library and grabbed a handful of books. He managed to finish his Shield essay and make good progress on his Herbology before the start of Transfiguration. Like Sprout, Professor McGonagall lectured on the importance of N.E.W.T. examinations and then what they would entitle. The sound of scratching quills filled the classroom all period as they took notes on cross-species transformation. When the class ended, they all groaned when McGonagall assigned their longest essay yet that was due Friday.

Ancient Runes was Harry's final subject that day and the most head-pounding. Professor Babbling spoke very fast and gave a dizzying number of notes that almost caused Harry's head to spin. Then, to review, she assigned a long translation and eight chapters to read. Tired, Harry once again headed up to the library to work on his homework. He wasn't the only one, nearly every fifth, sixth, and seventh year was crowding the library, grabbing dozens of books for their mountains of homework. Harry noticed that John and Ron weren't there, but Hermione was, already writing away. Claiming his own table, Harry dug out his Herbology notes and started on his own homework. By the time dinner came around, he had finished with his Herbology and almost finished his Transfiguration, but he still had a ways to go.

During dinner, Harry was again badgered by those wanting to join both the Dueling Club and Quidditch Team. He tried very hard not to yell, especially when someone came around while he had food in his mouth, but he nearly lost it a couple of times. After dinner he returned to the common room to work on his homework and was interrupted dozens of times before he had to leave for Prefect patrols. Once again his was paired with Amber this night and he had to show her what to do. It was easy as it was only the second night back and not too many people were about. He answered what few questions she had and soon they parted ways again, headed for bed.

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><p><strong>As I am back in school now, updates may be a little slow as I type out the chapters. I'll post as soon as I'm finished with one but the times will vary depending on the amount of homework and studying I have. As usual, read, review, and ask questions if you have them. <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the late update, homework has been slowly piling up this week. That and I've been working on _another_ story idea I've had, though I'm not going to post this one until it's finished. Next chapter!**

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><p>Tuesday morning Harry got a letter from the Headmaster that said that the Dueling Captains were required to be at an official meeting that Thursday to go over the Tournament's rules. Quickly going over his schedule, Harry found that worked just fine, he could on the first Club meeting that weekend and Quidditch trials the following. First class that day was Potions with Professor Snape. Like always, Snape started class with a pop quiz in which he called on everyone to ask them a really difficult question, except the Slytherins who got easy questions. Harry was the final person and got three questions instead of one, a testament to how much Snape hated Harry's father and brother. Harry didn't mind too much as it gave him a chance to exercise his mind more and showed Snape his skill, which the Potions Master appreciated. While the two would never like each other, they did have a weird truce in Potions do to the fact they both hated James and John Potter.<p>

After the quiz, Snape began his year specific lecture on Potions. This year's was a mixture of their first year's and fifth year's, how they would sit an important exam at the end of the year and those that failed would suffer his displeasure. Then he once more talked about the power of Potion making, how there was no silly wand-waving or foreign incantations involved, only the potioneer's mind and what skill they had. Only those that weren't dunderheads would actually get an 'A' in the class. He then had them start on the complicated Draught of Peace potion.

By the end of class Harry, and most everyone else, wanted some of their own potion, though only Harry and Hermione had the desired color for the potion. Snape went around look at the potions offered. With some he stopped a looked longer while others he just skipped. At Hermione's he stirred hers a bit more before writing something down on his clipboard. Again Harry was last and when he stopped he glance at the potion, looked up at Harry before turning back to the potion. Mentally, Harry was going through every step he did because from the way Snape acted, he was sure something was wrong with his Potion. Snape gave the potion a sniff and wrote something Harry couldn't see on his clipboard. He then swept up to his desk, placed his clipboard down and glared at the class.

"The quality of work this class has offered has been…lacking. As such, you _all_ will write six pages on what you did wrong with your potion and how you can improve it. You will hand me your essays next class, during which you will put your corrections into place. Those that do not improve will serve a detention will me, as will those who don't hand in their homework or finish it completely. Class dismissed."

The whole class groaned at Snape's homework, his was always the worst. As they were leaving, Harry could see Hermione wracking her brain, trying to figure out what she had done wrong. No doubt it would cause her hours of stress. Behind her he could see Susan almost in tears. Her own potion had looked the worst from where Harry was standing, but there were a few others eh couldn't see, including one that was giving off the smell of burnt clothes, though that could have actually been someone's clothes burnt. Harry wanted to comfort Susan but a large group of fifth years heading to their own Potions class prevented him from getting close.

Arithmancy was next and Harry was regretting taking it. One of the hardest, if not the hardest, classes offered at Hogwarts, Arithmancy involved endless predictions with various numbers and consultation with at least three different numerology books. Thankfully they were starting off small with a basic review today. As such, Harry was able to finish almost two-thirds of his homework by the time the bell rang. Seeing numbers spin around in his head, Harry was glad that he only had Charms that afternoon. He quickly at lunch and headed for the library to finish his Arithmancy homework. By the time Charms rolled around, all Harry had to do was review his work and he was done.

Charms was Harry's second favorite class, after Defense, and was the easiest class he took. It also helped that he was Professor Flitwick's favorite student and that Flitwick himself was Harry's head of house. Like every other class, Flitwick gave the N.E.W.T. speech, though this one seemed a bit more serious than his usual first-class speeches. Review seemed to be the theme of the week as Flitwick had them work on some charms that many didn't get last year. Those that still didn't get them were required to practice while everyone else was told to read ahead in _The Standard Book of Spells Grade 7_. With Charms done, Harry went to the library to try and finish all of his homework.

Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions, and Charms, the homework was starting to pill up. He was just glad that he had only seven classes this year instead of ten like fifth year; that was a nightmare on top of Umbridge, the DA, and Voldemort, whose mind Harry had been seeing into for a couple of years. Speaking of Voldemort, Harry found it odd that he hadn't felt anything from him. The last time Harry even got a hint of what he was up to was two days before his seventeenth birthday, after that, nothing. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that he had visited Death two days after, but if that was true, why hadn't the connection broken when he visited the other times. Then again, Death did say that when he was sent back the other times, it was _before_ his death, so the connection probably hadn't died those times but this time, he was sent back _after_ his death. It was all too confusing for Harry and he decided to stop thinking about it.

On Thursday night, Harry went to the Staff Room for the Tournament meeting. When he arrived, he saw that he was the last one there and took his seat next to Matlock, getting a nod from Albert in greeting. Besides the Captains, Dumbledore, and the judges, Professors Sprout and McGonagall were there to act as head of houses. As soon as Harry was seated, Dumbledore passed out a copy of the rules to everyone and started to go over each and every one of them. Most of the time Dumbledore's voice was drier than Professor Binns's and Harry felt himself nodding off a couple of times, but did his best to stay awake as everything was important.

"Well, any questions?" At last Dumbledore had finished and was looking at the Captains expectantly.

"I have one Professor; in the third round, does the duel have to be one-on-one or can it be three like the others?"

"Ah, they don't have to be one-on-one, but it could be. I put that rule there as I thought that if a match went into three rounds, some people would get tired of watching so I included something that would make the last duel shorter. However, if you do chose to do three people, none of them can be from the previous round to make things fair. However, this does remind me, on the day of the last round, I have invited several Ministry members to come and watch. We will hold some demonstration duels beforehand and then go into the final match, after which the trophy will be given. Because of this, there will be no exhibition duels between the fifth and sixth match."

Dumbledore was referring to the fact that any student could challenge another, regardless of house, to a friendly match that didn't affect the placement of the Tournament. Because of the possibility of multiple duels, the exhibition duels would be scheduled together, so multiple duels could go on at once.

"I got something for both you and Professor Snape." Marcus looked extremely annoyed at something and Harry believed that he'd been wanting to bring it up for a while now. "Would you both tell Draco Malfoy that _I'm_ Captain of the Slytherin Dueling Team and that he should be my replacement no matter who his father is?"

"I will address the issue to Mr. Malfoy myself Mr. Boland."

"I've got the same problem," said Angus. "Only for me it's John Potter wanting to be Captain because he's the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"Now Mr. Matlock, what's wrong with letting John be Captain, he has plenty of dueling experience and is a fine leader. I see no reason why he shouldn't be Gryffindor's Captain."

"But I'm Captain, I've been Captain since the Teams refounding last year! I was taught by the previous Captain Rebecca Starling!"

"Albus, enough! Mr. Matlock is Captain for my house and he brings up good points. If John wanted to be Captain he should have joined in his third year." Professor McGonagall's argument said that the debate was over and nothing was going to change her mind. Dumbledore sighed and relented but Harry thought that he wasn't giving up just yet. Harry had a feeling that somehow, John would be Captain, but not in time for Gryffindor's first duel against Hufflepuff on October 25. No one else had any questions so everyone was dismissed. Professor Flitwick jogged to catch up to Harry.

"I hope you are prepared for our first match Harry, if we lose against Slytherin it may be impossible to win the Tournament."

"Don't worry Professor, I've Captained the Team since my third year and I practically started the whole Hogwarts Dueling Club. The only reason the other houses have Clubs is because they heard that Ravenclaw had one and they didn't want to be outdone."

Flitwick nodded. "Very well Harry, just don't get over confident, Albus plans for John to lead the Gryffindors to victory, both with this and in Quidditch, a sort of 'going out in style' type thing for John."

"Don't worry Professor, I've been studying over the summer, John won't get any of the trophies."

Saturday afternoon, all most all of Ravenclaw House turned up at the Room of Requirement for their Dueling Club meeting. The Room had sort-of become public knowledge after Harry's fifth year when the DA had been revealed. Since then, it had seen quite a bit of use from various students and some staff for any number of things. Today, it was in the style of a lecture hall with a raised platform so that everyone could see Harry. At one-thirty, when the doors closed and the last Ravenclaw took their seat, Harry stood up on the platform.

"Welcome everyone to the first Ravenclaw Dueling Club meeting. As I'm sure you all know, I'm Harry Potter, Captain of this Team. My goals for the Team this year are not only win the Dueling Tournament but also show the school that we have the best Team in the school. Just because we win the trophy doesn't mean we are the best, it just shows that we performed the best. To accomplish these goals, I'm going to give out instructions and help you all out during every meeting. At the last meeting before one of our matches, I'll select nine other people to join me in competing.

You selection means that I think that you are able to handle the match we are given, but it is not a permanent selection. If I think you are unable to handle the next match or someone else is better than you, I'll chose them. If you do not want to participate in the Tournament, let me know and I'll keep your name separate, you'll just be a part of the Dueling Club. For those that do want to participate, stay after the meeting and I'll go over the rules with you, then, if you still want to compete, I put you name on a list, from which I'll pick those that are competing in a match. Alannis, could you come up here please?"

The blond girl sitting in front of Harry was shocked that he had addressed her. Standing, she joined Harry and face the crowd.

"This is Alannis Desmond, my assistant and Junior Captain. When I'm not available, she'll be in charge and will lead one of the groups in our matches."

Alannis looked at Harry and then broke into a large smile. To be named Junior Captain meant that the current Captain thought highly of you and would replace the current Captain when they left. Alannis had joined the Team in her third year three years ago and had known Harry the entire time, to be thought of as his replacement was a great honor to her.

"Before we start, how about a practice duel? Luna, you're up."

Alannis had paled at the thought of being in a duel against Harry himself; so far, he had lost only once or twice the entire time he was on the Team, first in his second year and then his third. Both times he had faced a seventh year and the last one Alannis had watched personally as Co-Captains Harry and Rachel had dueled each other to a stand-still until the older girl had gotten in a lucky shot to win. Then to hear that she would face Luna had caused the girl to relax, but not too much. Luna Lovegood had joined in her first year along with Harry and had learned much from her friend. The entire Team knew that she was a force to be reckoned with. Using the belief that she was crazy against her opponents, Luna's style was unorthodox and caught many of her opponents off guard. Although she wasn't in the top ten of duelists, she was nowhere near the bottom of the pile.

Harry walked over to the middle of the platform to judge as the two sixth years faced each other. Those that were on the Team last year were on the edge of their seats, some exchanging money betting on the outcome. Those that weren't on the Team were also excited, but not as much. The Junior Captain against Loony Lovegood, the odd girl wouldn't stand a chance. Harry smirked, they would be completely surprised. It was one of the reasons he chose Luna for this, no one would underestimate her after this, or at least none than mattered. He was already thinking who to pair up with her for one of their matches, something to completely take the other houses by surprise.

Harry glanced at both girls, checking to see if they were ready. Alannis's face showed a bit of nervousness but focus, Luna's had a sly smirk. Harry raised his hand, held it for a second, and then brought it down. Alannis hesitated, unsure what Luna would do. Luna didn't hesitate for a second; see cast a quick summoning charm hoping to end the duel quickly but Alannis's grip on her wand was too strong. With that, the duel started. Alannis sent two Disarming spells Luna's way, but the girl blocked them and sent a color-change spell in retaliation. Back and forth spells flew; disarming and stunning from Alannis and a wide variety of spells you wouldn't normally see in a duel from Luna.

Suddenly, Alannis pulled a move that shocked just about everyone. She sent her own color-changing spell to the floor beneath Luna's feet. Caught off guard at having her own strategy used against her, Luna froze and that allowed Alannis to get a disarming charm through Luna's shields. Shrugging her head, Luna just hopped off the platform and skipped back to her seat to admire her new green and orange socks, not even bothering to collect her wand from Alannis.

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><p><strong>I'm going to try and speed things up and get to the Tournament as quickly as possible. This is because I'm not very orignial so the school scenes won't be very good. Also, I'm sure many of you will want to see the Tournament as well. The final reason is because this story will continue a couple of years after Hogwarts, so I can't stay there for very long otherwise the story will be lopsided. <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was hoping to make two updates at once and get things over with. My second story has demanded a bit of more time this weekend, so that's why I'm updating today.**

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><p>The whole house watched as Loony Lovegood just skipped back to her seat and pulled off her shoes and socks. Alannis just stood where she was, still holding Luna's wand. Harry walked forward and took the wand, then motioned Alannis to retake her seat. Harry looked at Luna again, decided she was fine without for now and stuck it where she always put hers, behind the left ear. He then turned and addressed the houses.<p>

"As you can see, every duelist has their own method; Alannis likes to keep this simple while Luna goes for the unorthodox. As you work with us, you will slowly learn what your own strengths and weaknesses are and develop a strategy around them. We will hold regular duels like this every meeting so that you all can see how different people work. These duels will also help me in deciding who I will select for the matches. If you wish to duel someone, please see me before the meeting in which you want to duel and I'll try and schedule you in."

With that, Harry split them into two groups. Alannis took those who just wanted to join the Dueling Club while Harry took those that wanted to join the Tournament, almost eighty percent of those in attendance wanted to do the Tournament. Like Professor Dumbledore did two nights ago, Harry read the rules off, but with a little more excitement in his voice, and answered questions. After that, a small number decided not to do the Tournament and went over to the Club group or left the Room all together. Those that stayed signed their names on a piece of parchment and then Harry dismissed them. They would officially begin training sometime next week when Harry could figure out a schedule. He then collected the list of the Dueling Club from Alannis and everyone went back to the dorms.

The next week, after finishing another long essay from Snape, McGonagall, and Babbling, Harry held Quidditch tryouts. Due to the excitement of the Tournament, fewer people turned out than normally would, only about twenty people. At the end, Harry felt good about his team, not as good as he normally would've felt but still good. He now had a new Beater and Chaser and one reserve Chaser and Keeper. As he was leaving the locker rooms after a shower, Harry ran into a nervous Susan Bones.

"Hey, Harry." She spoke softly, as if he was a dragon that would eat her alive.

"Hey Susan," he said lamely, "what can I do for you?"

"You know how you offered to tutor me in Defense? Well, I was wondering whether that offer was still open."

Harry and honestly forgotten about his offer and was silent for a minute as he tried to remember it. "Oh yah, yes the offer is still open."

She broke out into a smile. "Great, how about on Thursdays, after Charms?"

"Yah, how about the empty Transfiguration classroom on the fourth floor, does that work?" The two were now walking along the corridors, talking. They were headed towards the Great Hall where they could get some lunch. Susan nodded.

"So, how's the Dueling Club coming along, do you feel ready?"

"It's going good, I'm pretty sure that we can beat Slytherin when the time comes. How about you, have you joined the Hufflepuff team?"

She shook her head this time. "No, I told you in Flourish and Blotts that I'm no good at Defense. I just barely passed the O.W.L. exam and that was only because of the DA. I don't think I would've gotten a P if it wasn't for that."

They had come to the Great Hall so they prepared to go their separate ways. "So, I'll see you in class."

"Right."

She made to step closer to Harry, but she stopped and her face turned red. She then ran to the Hufflepuff Table and quickly sat down next to her friend Hannah. Harry watched her for a couple of seconds and then went back to his table. While he was eating, he got out his schedule and started to mark some things out. The Dueling Club met every Tuesday and Saturday, Quidditch practice was Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and every other Sunday, and then he had tutoring on Thursdays after class. His schedule was packed. Lowering his schedule, Harry saw a smirking Luna sitting across from him.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." She went back to her potatoes. Harry was about to eat his own lunch when Luna spoke again. "So, have you got your date with Susan scheduled?"

"Luna!"

His little sister teased him endlessly the rest of the week about his 'date' with Susan Bones, though only when no one was around. Nothing would get her to stop, not even him threatening to hex her. She knew he wouldn't really, though by Thursday afternoon, he was really starting to consider it. After Charms let out, Harry rushed to the fourth floor where Susan was waiting for him.

"How do you want to begin?" she asked.

"Let's start easy at first so that I can get an idea on what we need to work on. We'll start on the Disarming Charm first."

As they worked, Harry realized just how much he needed to work with Susan. Her pronunciation and knowledge of the spells were good; however it was her wand work that caused the most trouble. Nervous, her movements were jerky and at times, sloppy. When he had her focus on the wand movements, she got even more nervous and stuttered over her words. Finally, Harry realized that he was going too fast for Susan and slowed things down. He had her close her eyes and slowly do the wand movements, correcting her occasionally, before she mouthed the incantation, and then whispered it. After an hour-and-a-half of work, her Disarming and Shield spells showed quite a bit of improvement and Harry ended the lesson until next week.

As the weeks went by, Harry got into a rhythm of things. His work for Defense and Charms were top notch, earning high praise for his spell work. Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Transfiguration continued to increase in difficulty and leaving them with mountains of homework. In Potions, Harry took detailed notes about what he did and when so that when Snape assigned his weekly assessment essay, Harry was ready. Susan continued to improve in her own work, progressing a little faster than Harry thought she would from their first meeting. Luna, and sometimes Neville, teased Harry about their weekly 'dates', though it was light teasing. He also got used to the glares sent his way. From John when he out performed him in Defense and Charms, from Snape when he could find nothing wrong with his potion, from his team mates when he had them continue practicing long after they were tired, and Seamus just in general.

At long last, the moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived, the start of the first Hogwarts Dueling Tournament. On the last Saturday of October, everyone gathered in the Great Hall to watch Gryffindor and Hufflepuff duel. Like the first and only Dueling Club meeting in Harry's second year, a long platform filled the Great Hall, though it was wider than the old one to hold six duelists rather than two. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff took one side of the Hall each while Ravenclaw and Slytherin filled in the gaps. Harry, Alannis, and Luna found themselves on the Hufflepuff side, only a few feet from Susan and Hannah. Professor Dumbledore stood in the middle of the platform and addressed the Hall.

"Welcome every to the start of Hogwarts's First Annual Dueling Tournament! Today's match is Gryffindor House versus Hufflepuff. To referee the first round is Professor Flitwick."

Applause and cheering rang throughout the Hall and the two professors switched spots, Dumbledore taking his seat at the High Table to watch while Flitwick took the middle of the dueling platform. Angus Matlock and Albert Richardson joined him and shook hands and then returned to their respective sides. Albert jumped down while Angus was joined by Hermione Granger and Fay Dunbar. Ernie Macmillan, Zacharias Smith, and Justin Finch-Fletchley stood up for Hufflepuff. Harry thought the round was mismatched, Macmillan was good but with Granger, Gryffindor would be difficult to beat this round though he wondered why she wasn't with his brother and Weasley.

The moment the duel began, Hermione easily took down Smith with one spell and worked with Dunbar to beat Finch-Fletchley. Matlock and Macmillan were evenly matched until the two girls joined up. Spinning away, Matlock allowed the girls to focus on the lone Hufflepuff. With Dunbar shielding and Granger attacking, Ernie was unable to see Matlock's attack from behind until it was too late. Gryffindor had won the first round in under five minutes. While the lions were cheering, Harry saw McGonagall clapping hard next to a smirking Dumbledore.

The Hufflepuffs cheered on their Captain as he took the stage with a boy and girl Harry had never seen before. On the Gryffindor side, Harry show John and Ron and Ginny Weasley climb up. Again, Harry thought that Hufflepuff was mismatched; while Ron was average, Ginny was good and would be difficult to beat, John was pretty good too. Snape took Flitwick's place as referee and the second round began. Knowing the team's weakness, Richardson went for Ron right away while the boy and girl worked together to fend off John and Ginny. It took two minutes but Ron fell and Richardson went for Ginny, hoping to overwhelm John.

That idea went down quickly though as John relentless attacked Richardson, drawing him away. While the two were squaring off, Harry turned towards the youngest Weasley. Her attacks were ferocious and powerful, the two Hufflepuffs just barely managing to hold her off. However, it wouldn't last as Ginny snuck past the boy's shield and stunned him while disarming the girl; neither were as experienced as the only Weasley girl. She turned just in time to see her boyfriend catch Richardson's wand and with that, the round and first match went to Gryffindor. The reds roared as they congratulated their Captain and the Boy-Who-Lived, their opening match and they were undefeated. Angus and Albert shook hands once more, as did McGonagall and Sprout, and everyone left the Hall.

As he was leaving, Harry could hear Richardson giving a warm speech about next time. Outside the Great Hall there was a large board that depicted the estimated rankings of the Tournament. With their first win, Gryffindor was at the top, believed to go all the way, with Ravenclaw and Slytherin unranked as they hadn't dueled yet. Hufflepuff was at the bottom and was speculated to not win the Tournament. A couple of Hufflepuffs were disappointed while quite a bit of Gryffindors were already celebrating winning the Tournament. Harry knew all that would disappear after they saw Ravenclaw in action, they were more than ready.

That week, Susan didn't show up for their scheduled tutoring session. Harry waited for a half-hour before leaving, confused. She didn't say that she didn't want to cancel today or reschedule and he knew that she wasn't sick or anything. During dinner, Harry watched her. She looked down about something and her eyes looked a little red. Thinking something bad had happened at home or something similar, Harry decided to let it go. Although he wanted to comfort her if something did happen, it wasn't his place and he didn't want to pry. Somewhere, deep down inside of Harry, he felt that it was something personal that made Susan skip their tutoring session, like it was his fault.

Saturday, the Gryffindors were celebrating heavily. Quidditch was here and the first match was them against Slytherin. They felt that with their win in the Tournament, and with John Potter as Captain and Seeker, they would win easy. Most of the crowd was feeling the same as nearly three-fourths of the stadium was red and gold. Then again, no one wanted to see Slytherin win either this match or the Cup, so of course they would support Gryffindor. Harry had chosen no side and was focused on the individuals, preparing for Ravenclaw's match against them later on in the year. It was certainly interesting.

John hadn't done much work to prepare his team and went with some of his favorites. Malfoy on the other hand, actually seemed to work this year, though there wasn't much difference from last year. The entire match, the two sides were even thanks to Ron's horrible Keeping and Ginny's excellent aim. Slytherin of course would not fold. Without warning, the two Beaters launched the two Bludgers at her at the same time. While she was able to avoid the first, the second got Ginny in the side, taking her out of the rest of the game. Without their best Chaser, Gryffindor started to fall behind, forcing John to catch the Snitch to end the game quickly with a win. It was not to be; Malfoy came out of nowhere and grabbed the Snitch in one of his rare and lucky spouts of good luck. The final score was two-hundred and twenty to four-hundred and ten.

With this win, Slytherin took the lead in the Quidditch Cup and left Gryffindor wondering what had happened. Harry of course knew; too high on their victory in the Dueling Tournament and too arrogant in John's skills, they underperformed. That, and Malfoy recognized the real threat to the score and took it out, leaving only John to prevent a Slytherin win against Gryffindor, something that hadn't happened in seven years! A smirking Harry left the stadium as the many green supporters cheered while the red supporters sadly left.

That evening, Harry had the Dueling Club practice three-on-three dueling to get ready for their turn in the Tournament. It was a good thing too as many were unprepared and often got in each other's way. By the end of practice, only a handful of people had gotten the hang of it, though they still needed some practice. Harry also had the Quidditch Team working harder as their first match was in two weeks against Hufflepuff. With the amount of work Harry was putting into his teams, he was starting to fall behind on his homework, a fact that Snape exploited that Tuesday to assign him even more work and a detention.

Once again Susan failed to show up for their tutoring session. As he was leaving, Harry saw Seamus hanging around. The Gryffindor gave him a proud smirk before going the other direction. He watched Susan again during dinner. She still seemed to be sad, but it didn't look like she was crying this time. He now had a funny feeling that Susan was being forced to skip their sessions as her performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts was starting to slip again.

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><p><strong>There you go, the sixth chapter. This first Duel and Quiddithc Matches are out of the way now and things are going to progress just a little faster. Until next time, review!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm so sorry for the late post today, FanFiction was behaving weirdly this morning so I was unable to upload any chapters. I don't know when I'll be able to update again as I am so behind on my chapter writting. I'm going to take a break of unknown time to work heavily on the chapters of all my stories and I'll repost when I'm caught up. Until then, enjoy.**

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><p>The weather was cold and windy. From his stop high above the stadium, Harry could see his Chasers throwing the Quaffle back and forth, trying to avoid the Hufflepuff Chasers. Zacharias was pushing his team hard, trying to make up for their loss in the Tournament. So far they hadn't been doing too bad; the score was forty to thirty in favor of Ravenclaw. All six Chasers flew all over, trying to keep hold of the Quaffle. So far, the red ball had only gotten in range of the goal posts ten times; seven scores, two interceptions, and a save by Hufflepuff.<p>

The Beaters were also getting a good work out; the Quaffle wasn't the only ball that was everywhere at once. Harry's own Beaters hadn't gotten a second of rest since the game started, rushing to protect a Chaser here, or send a Bludger there. At times, Harry wished he had three Beaters, that way one could protect him. Before the game, he had ordered the Beaters to protect the Chasers at all costs and now he was paying for it. For the twelfth time in five minutes, Harry had to move to avoid getting hit by a Bludger launched at him from one of the Hufflepuff Beaters. Zacharias must have seen him as a threat to be eliminated.

As Harry hovered, he watched the Hufflepuff Seeker try and out fly the Bludger he had just avoided. The Seeker had been following him from the word 'go', hoping to steal the Snitch from Harry like Malfoy did with his brother. Suddenly, Harry got an idea. While his opponent was distracted by the Bludger, Harry took off towards the other side at top speed. His Firebolt, a Christmas present from Remus and Sirius in his fifth year, quickly left the Hufflepuff behind. When he lost the Bludger, it took him a few seconds to locate Harry again and fly over.

In the time it took him to do so, a thirteenth Bludger was sent his way and Harry maneuvered so that the little black ball went for the other Seeker instead. Once again, while the Hufflepuff was distracted, Harry took off for the far end of the stadium. Two more times Harry did this and he seemed to be confusing the poor boy. On the fifth time, Harry's strategy paid off. This time, instead of going for the Seeker, he flew towards the Hufflepuff Keeper, allowing his team to score, tying the game. The Hufflepuff Seeker realized too late that this wasn't another attempt to loss the Bludger and get free time to search. Seven seconds after his team scored, Harry flew high into the air, the Golden Snitch held tightly in his hand.

Although it wasn't spectacular, it was still a win for Ravenclaw. When Harry flew over to shake Smith's hand, the Hufflepuff brushed him off, upset that his house was behind in both the Tournament _and_ Quidditch Cup. Shaking his head at the display, Harry flew over to his team mates for a celebratory lap around the pitch, the cheers of 'Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw' echoing all around. Harry was the last to leave the lockers and was met with a strange sight. Once again, Susan Bones was waiting for him. This time, she looked like she had been crying again as both her eyes and cheeks were red.

"Good game," she said so softly he barely heard her.

"Thanks." Harry replied. He hesitated before asking, "I have seen you for our tutoring sessions, did you want to cancel?"

The girl shook her head and turned around so that Harry couldn't see her face. "No, I've…just been busy. Yeah, busy…and I have been able to make them, that's all."

Harry felt that she was hiding something but before he could ask, that came a loud shout of 'Susan!' from down the hall. Looking up, the two saw an angry Seamus Finnegan waiting.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go."

She ran down the corridor and try to apologize to her boyfriend about something but Seamus just told her to shut up. He then grabbed her arm and, with one last glare at Harry, pulled her away. It was all Harry could do to not run after them and tell Seamus off about mistreating Susan. He now had some idea of what was going on. Seamus had been glaring at Harry ever since the year began and it had increased since he started giving Susan lessons. The Irish boy probably thought that Susan was either cheating on him or that Harry, correctly, wanted to steal his girl from him. Although he didn't want to hurt Susan's feelings, he hoped that Seamus would get angry enough that the two would soon break up.

That night, Harry spent the meeting mixing and matching groups for the Tournament. Together, he and Alannis would take notes on each groups' strengths and weaknesses and give advice on how to perform better. It was with the hope of selecting a nice group of duelists to beat Slytherin that Harry did this. Although he planned to win all the rounds like Gryffindor did in two weeks, it was better to have three groups ready than just two. He and Alannis also discussed who Marcus Boland would select to participate. Both had agreed on Draco Malfoy because of his father's influence and Harry had been preparing a special strategy for him. Everyone else was anybody's guess.

On Thursday, Susan didn't show up for the fourth week. Hannah Abbott did however.

"Sorry Harry, Susan wanted me to tell you that she's still busy and that she'll contact you as soon as her schedule's clear again."

Hannah had almost left when Harry gave her his own message to deliver. "Tell Susan that just because Seamus doesn't want me to tutor her, doesn't mean she has to stop coming. It's her choice if she wants to continue these lessons and if Seamus had a problem with it, that's too bad."

Hannah looked a little shocked at Harry when he told her his message but left quickly to deliver it. At dinner, both Hufflepuff girls looked a little angry at each other and both appeared to have been crying. Harry felt bad for the two and hoped that they didn't end their friendship because of it. Later that night, while Harry was performing patrols alone, he heard a strange sound. After listening for a few seconds, he realized that the sound was crying. Sighing, Harry prepared himself to comfort the first or second year that had probably had a bad day. What Harry wasn't prepared for was to see Susan Bones lying next to a window with tears in her eyes.

Approaching slowly and softly, he asked, "Susan?"

The girl jumped at his voice and turned around.

"Oh, Harry. Must you always scare me like that?"

He gave her and embarrassed grin. Although he suspected, he still had to ask. "Sorry about that, what's wrong?"

"Seamus." She spoke the name with a hint of venom in her voice. Trying not to get his hopes up, Harry slowly got closer and sat next to her.

"What happened?"

Susan sniffled a bit and began her tale. "Hannah delivered your message to me. She agreed that Seamus shouldn't control my life, that I was free to make my own choices. She also told me that she didn't think that Seamus was good enough for me. I tried to tell her otherwise, that Seamus and I were just having some rough spots but she pointed out that he had been rough with me in the past couple of weeks. I ignored her but during dinner what she said made sense so I told Seamus that no matter what he said, I was going to continue my lessons with you. He got mad and slapped me."

Harry balled up his right fist and would've left then and there to find Seamus and give him a piece of his mind, expect for the fact that Susan needed him at the moment. He could see the red mark even in the dark and that didn't help his anger one bit. However, he remained calm and allowed Susan to continue. She gave a couple more sobs and then spoke again.

"I was so angry that I slapped him back, saying that he didn't have to right to touch me that way. He got even more angry and said that _I_ didn't even have the right to slap _him_ and that if I was going to go around and whore myself out, that we shouldn't even be dating. He dumped me, and told me to only come back when I realized where my true place was. Only then, after I apologized for my wrong doing, would he take me back. I was so shocked that I tried to apologize for slapping him, but he wouldn't take me back. He said that I was a horrible girlfriend and to just go. I was so distraught that I came here, and then you found me."

Harry felt his anger at Seamus evaporate when Susan looked into his eyes. Her cool light brown mesmerized him, he felt like he could look into those eyes forever. The tears just added to their beauty. He felt himself leaning closer towards her, her eyes were half closed. Then he caught himself and pulled back. Susan too seemed to come to her senses and looked away, her cheeks bright red. Although Harry wanted nothing more than to become her new boyfriend, he knew the time wasn't right, she was still hurting. What she needed more was a friend, so he put his arm around her and let her cry on him, rubbing her back. Her tears were lighter and sobs softer, but they soon ended.

"Thanks for listening to me Harry, I feel better now."

The two stood and Harry escorted her back to her dorm. After giving her a soft good-night, Harry went back to his own dorm, feeling that his patrol was over. The next morning Seamus looked really unhappy while Susan and Hannah were happily talking with one another. Harry even caught them looking in his direction once or twice. Susan was true to her word and restarted her lessons with Harry the next week. The time off seemed to do a little damage to the progress they had made as she was still jerky in her movements and would jump when Harry held her arm to correct her.

At last, on December 2, the second match of the Dueling Tournament began. Once again the Great Hall was filled with anxious students wanting to watch, dividing among themselves which house they would support. Like with Quidditch, a good majority sided with Ravenclaw against Slytherin, though a few Hufflepuffs did join Slytherin's side. Harry joined Marcus on the dueling platform and the two shook hands, Marcus a little harder than necessary and with a sly smirk on his face. Professor Tonks-Lupin would judge this round with Flitwick following for the second and Snape for the final, if needed. Harry wasn't planning on it.

Up first for the Slytherins was Draco Malfoy, as expected, along with his two goons Crabbe and Goyle. Anticipating this move, Harry had selected Alannis, Luna, and Padma Patil for this round. The six walked towards the center of the platform, bowed to each other, though Malfoy's was more of a jerk, and walked back to their respective places, Luna at the front. Once Tonks began the duel, Crabbe lost his wand as all three Ravenclaw girls used summoning charms. The Slytherins started with a couple of powerful stunning spells, hoping to end it quickly against three girls. Both spells were blocked by Alannis and Padma while Luna enacted Harry's plan.

Although Alannis was leading the group, Luna was in the front of the triangle position so that she would have less distance to travel and the other girls would have a better angle to protect her. Luna took off running straight at Malfoy, who was caught off guard from the physical attack and hesitated to use a spell. Goyle was too stupid to know what was going on. By the time Malfoy had regained his wits Luna had reached him and grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him, hard.

The entire Hall, except for Harry, Alannis, Padma, and a few members of the Ravenclaw Team, were stunned, no one had been expecting that. Using this to their advantage, Alannis and Padma stunned both Goyle and Crabbe, for good measure. Luna then separated her lips from Draco's and tapped on the head with her wand, putting him under the Full Body-Bind Curse. Luna then dropped the blond and walked back over to her teammates, high-fiving them. It took Tonks, and the rest of the Hall, a second or two to recover from what they had just seen and declare Ravenclaw the winner of the first round. The Ravenclaws cheered at their first victory and congratulated the girls as they climbed down. Some people even whistled at Luna as she passed and Harry even heard one person ask if she liked Draco, to which her answer was a simple 'no'.

Up next was Harry, Terry Boot, and Anthony Goldstein against Marcus Boland, Daphne Greengrass, and Theodore Nott. Harry knew he was going to have some problems here, Nott was a very capable dueler and Greengrass was probably one of the top duelist at Hogwarts. Harry would place her right up there with him in the top three. Out of all the students at Hogwarts, Harry still hadn't been able to figure out her strategy. Harry's was quite simple and effective. Before going into a duel, he would select three spells and stick to only those during the whole duel. It made remembering his vast knowledge of spells easier and he didn't have to think of which one to use, something that would grant him precious seconds in a duel. It also forced Harry to be able to think on his feet on how to use those spells to their maximum potential.

Flitwick gave the signal and the duel began. It quickly went into three different one-on-one duels, Harry versus Marcus, Terry and Greengrass, and Anthony and Nott. After a minute, Terry fell to the skillful blond, as did Anthony, though only after beating Nott. That left Harry by himself against two of Slytherin's best duelists. The Slytherin's saw this and cheered their team on, hoping to cause the fall of Harry Potter and grant Slytherin their first victory, and possible first match in the Tournament. The Ravenclaws and others cheered Harry on, wanting Slytherin to fall and grant Ravenclaw their first match.

Harry was hard pressed to not fall, both Boland and Greengrass were relentless in their attacks, though Greengrass was a little tired from taking on two others. She also appeared upset about something though Harry couldn't get a good look at her face as she kept spinning and her long blond hair kept hiding her face. With two attackers, Harry knew it would be difficult to get his own attacks in, but his shield was holding up just fine and wouldn't fall anytime soon. Using his last spell, Harry fired a Blasting Curse at the side of the dueling platform. The blast and the momentum from her spinning knocked Greengrass off balance and she hit the floor. Harry hit her with a stunner shortly after, then powered up his shield charm and sent Boland's stunner back at him and took him out of the duel.

The Ravenclaws cheered as their Captain held his own and beat two of the best duelists Hogwarts had to offer, earning them their first match win in the Tournament. They were now tied with Gryffindor and were one step closer to winning the whole Tournament and the Dueling Trophy. Flitwick congratulated his best student while Harry was reviving his opponents. With a grunt, Boland shook Harry's hand again while Greengrass sent a glare and nod in his direction. Harry had a feeling that he would be facing the Ice Queen of Slytherin again before the year was done, and this time it would be for the title of best duelist in Hogwarts.

As Harry stepped down, he received many pats on the back, handshakes, and even a hug from Luna. He even noticed Susan sending him a large smile that made Harry fell like there was a large fire inside. Angus and Albert sent him respectful nods as well; they now knew that he was the one to beat in order to win the Tournament. Others knew it as well, some Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were calling him the best duelist at Hogwarts, 'maybe even better than his brother' they said. John of course beat all that down, saying that Harry got lucky and that when they dueled, he would mop the floor with him. He even mentioned the duel that they had over the summer as proof. A few Gryffindors went back to John but others still believed that Harry was better.

The Dueling Board outside the Great Hall wiped the smirk off of John's face. Ravenclaw was now leading the Tournament with Gryffindor and Slytherin tied for second and Hufflepuff still last. Harry noticed that even Professor Dumbledore didn't like what he saw as he was muttering something along the lines 'getting that stupid board fixed'. As he was climbing the Great Staircase, Neville and Hermione came up to give their own congratulations for his 'excellent spell work'. Hermione even said that she was looking forward to dueling Harry again herself, their pervious duel in Defense was left unfinished. Both the Tournament and Quidditch were now on hold until the start of the next semester so Harry allowed the Ravenclaw Dueling Team to take the night off with one last 'good-job everybody'.

The glory of Ravenclaw's victory was ended the next morning when the _Daily Prophet_ revealed that there had been a mass attack by Voldemort the previous night. Dozens of muggles had been killed and another dozen were missing, presumed dead. There were also a couple of wizarding deaths because of the attack as a couple of families received notice that there had been a death in the family. Suddenly a school dueling tournament didn't seem as exciting when they were reminded about what was going on outside the walls that protected them. Harry wasn't as surprised as he should've felt it; it had been too quiet in the past couple of months. This attack must have been planned for weeks and Voldemort must have been building up to it. This attack also reminded Harry that he was the true Boy-Who-Lived and that it was up to him to finally defeat Voldemort for good and end all the suffering.

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><p><strong>So sorry for all the shorter chapters lately, I don't know what's going on. I promise, I'll try and make the next group of chapters longer. <strong>

**One more thing, if there is someone you want to see duel each other in the Tournament, please tell me and I'll see about putting them in as part of the matches or exibition duels.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm going to response to some reviews I had for the last chapter, all good reviews, but some things people wanted to talk about. Nemo2002 and Pinellas62 you'll get your wish very soon, I already planned on it. Reven228, not a bad idea and I'll consider it. Gaiawolf, I had no idea that I was doing that but no, that isn't the reason. That will be revealed near the end of Hogwarts. Thank-you to all who reviewed and I'm glad that you all like my Tournament.**

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><p>The morning after Voldemort's attack, everyone was still discussing it. Many of the students were afraid of what he could and would do and most were scared of where he would attack next. Everyone was scared for themselves and their families. Then, while everyone was at breakfast, Dumbledore stood to make an announcement.<p>

"While I'm sure many of you are scared because of Voldemort's previous attack, I assure you all that you are quite safe here. However, to lighten the mood, the staff and I have agreed to host a little Yule Ball this year. Unlike the Ball three years ago, you all are invited. Dress robes and formal wear are encouraged though you do not need to bring a date. That is all."

Dumbledore's announcement certainly made most of the student population forget all about Voldemort all over again. Whispering broke out like wild fire across the Great Hall as nearly every member of the female species gossiped about what they would wear and who would ask them to the Ball. A handful of boys were blushing beet red as they glanced around towards the girl they hoped to ask while a few groaned. Ravenclaw was not immune and Harry could already see Anthony asking Padma.

Another look around showed Pansy Parkinson bugging Draco Malfoy, while Ginny did the same to Harry's brother. Hermione Granger seemed to be whispering something very forcefully to her boyfriend, who was ignoring her in favor of his large breakfast. A few seats away, Seamus sent a glance Susan's way before turning to glare at Harry. Harry was smirking; Seamus was probably regretting dumping Susan now. He planned on asking her before Seamus could get to her again.

That moment came a couple of minutes later. While he was leaving the Great Hall for Defense, Harry saw a blushing Neville talking to an equally blushing Hannah. Susan stood next to her friend and squealed as the blonde said yes. Harry was then shocked when Neville kissed Hannah's cheek. He wasn't the only one as both girls were frozen where they stood while Neville ran away in fear. Hannah slowly put her hand where Neville had kissed her and sighed as Harry approached.

"Um, Susan?"

Both girls looked at Harry, who suddenly grew a small blush. Hannah gave Harry a smirk and left with a short wave. Harry suspected that Neville had told Hannah how he liked Susan. The red head in question also had a blush on her face; something that Harry realized had appeared on her face quite a bit.

"Yeah Harry?"

"Um, I was wondering, um…if you'd like to um, go to the Ball with me?"

The girl's face was now as red and her hair. All she could do was nod.

"Really, great! So, um, you want to walk to class together?"

Again Susan nodded and the two took off. Inside, Harry's nervousness vanished. Although he had been helping her out for a couple of weeks, asking Susan Bones out was completely different from tutoring her. The two happily walked to Defense where a smirking Hannah was waiting. The two Hufflepuffs whispered with each other and even squealed before Tonks told them to be quiet.

Before lunch, Harry walked into the Entrance Hall and saw Seamus and Susan arguing. Both looked really angry and Susan looked close to tears. She gave Seamus one last shout before she turned around and went to join Hannah. Seamus however, wasn't done. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him until her face was an inch from his. He whispered something harshly before releasing and pushing her away. Angry, Harry fallowed the Irishman into the Great Hall.

"Hey, Finnegan!" The boy, along with half the Hall, turned Harry's way.

"What do you want Potter?"

"I don't like the way you're treating Susan."

"What do you care, you're not her boyfriend."

"Neither are you."

"Yeah, thanks to you. What did you do to her to make her break up with me, the Imperious?"

"I did no such thing" Harry said quietly, his voice was laced with venom. Those that knew Harry knew he was getting close to his breaking point and started backing away. Seamus either didn't notice or didn't care.

"I bet. How about a love potion instead. Isn't a little odd that this year, you start giving out private lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts when you're mediocre in the subject. Isn't it also weird that you have only one student and that one student breaks up with her boyfriend not long _after_ you start giving her lessons? If Susan had really needed help in Defense, she could've come to me; I'm roommates with the best student in Defense against the Dark Arts in this whole school!"

"Susan dumped you because you were abusive to her, not because I charmed, cast a spell, or slipped her a love potion. You and you alone are the reason Susan broke up with you and you can't stand that fact. Get over it and move on and leave Susan alone."

Harry then pushed pass a fuming Seamus. A good portion of the Hall was watching the two boys and a handful of them starting whispering, much like whenever Harry had to save his brother. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as when the whole school thought that he was the Heir of Slytherin when Harry spoke Parseltongue at the Dueling Club in second year. Looking around from his seat, Harry could see most of the Hall had gone back to their own lunch and Hannah was consoling a crying Susan.

At last, the end of term came. As soon as he was finished with his Transfiguration final, Harry ran up to the common room to dump all his stuff. The next day the Hogwarts Express would take the small number of students who decided not to stay at Hogwarts over the break home. Although the man was completely bias, Harry had to admire Dumbledore a bit, not only had he found a way to take his students' minds off of the war but also a way to keep many of them behind Hogwarts's protective walls.

It was almost impossible to tell the holidays from the rest of the year. With nearly every student at Hogwarts and no classes, everyone was outside in the snow. Harry watched from Ravenclaw Tower as the entire Gryffindor house had a large snowball fight against each other. Sometimes they would all gang up on a passing Slytherin but they quickly learned their lesson when the Ice Queen buried twenty of them in snow as revenge for the dozens of snowball sent her way. Harry laughed as Daphne gave her usual flick of her hair before stomping off to go dry her clothes.

Christmas morning Harry awoke to a small pile of present at the foot of his bed. Grabbing the first one, he saw that it was of course, from Luna. She had given him a blue and bronze wrist-wand holder that he could customize to his liking. Harry had always wanted one as it was Auror standard issue and made carrying his wand everywhere easier. He was surprised to see one from Remus and Sirius but it was revealed to be the deed to a good sized flat in London, not far from the Ministry entrance. The last present was from his mother and was a new pair of dress robes along with a note that she wished that he and his brother had come home from Christmas.

Luna met him in the common room and the two went down for breakfast like normal. However, unlike normal, when they arrived in the Great Hall, Luna paused for second and instead, steered Harry over to the Hufflepuff table. He was confused at first until he saw that she was leading him towards where Susan, Hannah, and Neville were sitting.

"Mind if we join you?"

The three looked up and nodded, though Neville looked a little nervous having his ex-girlfriend and her brother near him. Neville wasn't the only one; Harry was wondering why Luna had them sit with the group. Luna, Hannah, and occasionally Neville would engage in various conversations. That left Susan and Harry, who were seating across from each other, to themselves. The two looked at each other for a second before looking away, blushing.

After breakfast, the girls somehow managed to persuade the guys to hold a snowball fight with boys against the girls. Needless to say, Harry and Neville never stood a chance. Reluctant to hit their dates, the boys were attacked mercilessly by the girls, causing them to retreat. They then split up, Harry going left with Neville going right. Looking behind him, Harry just barely managed to avoid a snowball thrown by Susan, who was chasing him along with Luna. Both girls were using their wands to summon snow, form it into a ball, and then throw it at Harry as they ran.

Struck with inspiration, Harry used the same trick to launch a pile of snow in Luna's direction. The blonde wasn't able to avoid it and she tripped, falling face first into a deep patch. Pleased at taking out one of his attackers, Harry turned so that he was walking backwards, facing Susan. Hitting her would be easy; her bright red hair stood out in the white snow, unfortunately, the same applied for Harry and his black hair. Susan threw as many snowballs as she was able, hitting Harry multiple times while he aimed more properly. He struck her left shoulder, hip, and her right elbow before tossing his largest. Susan ducked but miscalculated and the snowball hit her directly in the face, knocking her into snow.

When she didn't stand, Harry got worried and rushed over. He reached her and knelt by her side. He just started to say her name when she leaped up and trust a fist full of snow in his face. The attack surprised him and Harry fell back into the snow with Susan on top of him. Both were shocked by the closeness of their faces yet neither moved except for Harry to put his arms around Susan's waist. They laid there for a while until Harry leaned up and kissed her on the lips.

The kiss was nothing like Harry had ever experienced. Starting from the lips, intense warmth spread through him to ever corner of his body, eliminating the cold. His mind was mush, unable to form a single thought except how wonderful it was to kiss Susan Bones. He faintly felt a pair of hands running through his hair as he wrapped his arms tighter around the girl. After what felt like a lifetime, Harry became aware of clapping near him. Ending the kiss, the pair looked up to see a smiling Luna softly clapping at them. Harry felt a large blush rushing to his cheeks at his 'little sister' catching her brother kissing a girl. Susan got off Harry and the two stood up.

"How long were you watching?"

"Only about seven seconds. If you want to kiss longer I can turn around if you want."

The pair was saved from answering by Neville appearing. Hannah was slung over his shoulder, playfully yelling at her boyfriend to put her down. He did so when he reached the group and she slapped his shoulder. She then turned towards Susan and opened her mouth to say something when her eyes caught something between Harry and Susan. She sent her friend a silent question to which Susan responded by blushing deeply and nodding. Looking, Harry received a shook when he discovered that he was holding Susan's hand. He quickly let go of her hand and ignored the smirks from the three in front of him.

"Well, since Neville ambushed me and from the way you two are positioned, I'm guessing that the boys won the fight. Now come on, let's get inside, I'm cold and could use some hot chocolate to warm him up. Of course, I wouldn't say no to my boyfriend doing a nice job of it and I'm sure you can find a good-looking wizard nearby to do the same to you Susan."

Harry, Susan, and Neville blushed while Luna giggled with Hannah. The five walked back up to the castle where Luna led them to the Room of Requirement. Inside was a small room with a lit fireplace, a couple of chairs with blankets, and a table with five large mugs of fresh hot chocolate. Hannah plopped right in Neville's lap with her own mug and sighed contently when he wrapped a thick blanket around them. Luna claimed the middle chair all to herself, leaving the last one to Harry and Susan.

Harry grabbed the blanket and claimed one side of the chair so that Susan could comfortably sit down. Then, when she did, he wrapped the blanket around them while Susan leaned against Harry's side. The small group spent a couple of hours warming up and exchanging stories with about various Christmases they had in the past as well as what they wanted to do once they left Hogwarts.

Luna was mostly quiet as she still had another year of school left but she did say that she wanted to travel the world a bit, finding and documenting new animals. One day she hoped to write a book like _Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Hannah didn't have very many plans though she did express and interest in working at the Leaky Cauldron. Neville's plans were obvious, he wanted to continue work in Herbology and someday take over for Professor Sprout. Like she had told him over the summer, Susan wanted to help with the war but didn't want to fight. Instead she wanted to get a job as a Healer at St. Mungo's. Harry told of his interest in being an Auror, which Susan said she could talk to her aunt about if he wanted.

At five o'clock, the girls left to their respective dorms to get ready for the ball. Hannah joked that she now had to make Susan so beautiful that Harry wouldn't be able to think straight. Everyone laughed at the looks on Harry's and Susan's faces at that comment. That left the two boys alone and they got into a small argument about who they thought would win the Quidditch Cup this year; Neville thought the Tutshill Tornadoes would win again like they did last year while Harry was for the Appleby Arrows.

At last they could continue their argument no longer, the only thing they agreed on was that the Cannons would finish last, and left to get ready for the Ball themselves. Harry's new robes were a little more fancy than his one from fourth year, a nice emerald green with gold trimming. They were also a little longer and fit a lot more comfortably than his old ones. Before leaving Harry made sure to strap his new wand holder to his right wrist.

Once again Luna was waiting for him in the common room. Although she hadn't been able to get a date, Harry had offered to escort her down to the Ball. She was wearing a long silver, sleeveless dress. Light blue bracelets were on both her wrists and her traditional radish earrings were replaced by gold rings. Her long hair was in a ponytail and draped over her right shoulder. The only thing that had remained the same about Luna was her Butterbeer necklace and the wand behind her ear. All in all, Harry could never figure out why only he and Neville had dated Luna considering how beautiful she looked. He guessed it was because nobody ever looked past her oddness.

Looping her left arm through his right, Luna allowed Harry to lead her from the Ravenclaw Tower to the Entrance Hall. Like the Yule Ball three years ago, the Hall was filled with numerous students talking with each other. Harry found Neville in his black dress robes with Hannah in a navy blue dress at his side. The girl on Hannah's other side made Harry's jaw drop.

Susan Bones was breathtakingly beautiful in a scarlet red dress that almost reached her knees. The dress was held up by thin straps that exposed her creamy skin and the neck of the dress showed a modest amount of cleavage. A black chocker with a ruby in the center was across her neck while a single golden bracelet was on her right wrist. She wore no earrings and only a little make-up that accented her eyes and lips. Her hair was curled in a cork-screw fashion and pulled a curl uncomfortably every couple of seconds.

When she saw Harry, she gave a small twirl and asked, "Well, how do I look?"

Harry took a couple seconds to further admire his date before answering. "Absolutely beautiful."

Susan blushed and took Luna's spot on Harry's arm, the blonde walking off. The Head Boy and Girl as well as the seventh year Prefects were asked to open the Ball so Harry and Hannah led their dates to the doors of the Great Hall where Professor McGonagall was waiting for them. They were lead through the doors and placed on either side of the doors. Harry stood with Susan and Padma with Anthony Goldstein across from John with Ginny and Hermione with Ron. Neville was standing next to his red-headed roommate with Hannah while Ernie McMillian stood while Megan Jones. Draco Malfoy was with a shorter brunette than Harry recognized as Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's little sister. She was currently getting glared at by Pansy Parkinson who was ignoring her date Blaise Zabini.

Behind the Prefects were their head of house while Dumbledore and the rest of the staff stood where the High Table usually did. Once again like the previous Yule Ball, the House Tables had been removed and replaced with smaller tables that held about ten people. There were two tables were the staff stood for the staff themselves and the seventh year Prefects. With a flick of his wand, the headmaster opened the doors and the rest of Hogwarts filed in, chattering excitedly. Harry was surprised to see Luna being escorted in by Michel Corner, whose other arm held his date Su Li. The blonde just smiled and waved at her older brother.

Luna wasn't the only one blonde to catch Harry's eye. When Daphne entered by herself in a dark green dress, she nodded at Harry before glaring at Malfoy. Harry was amused to see the male blonde pale a bit as his date's old sister passed. The younger Greengrass pated his arm where earned her another glare from her date's former boyfriend. Then Seamus entered and Harry could tell that he wasn't the only one enchanted by Susan's beauty. The Irishman sent him such a glare that Harry felt he might burst into flames.

When the last student entered the Great Hall, the doors closed and the Prefect filed up to the raised platform where the teachers were. There they split into groups; Harry, Susan, Hannah, Neville, Hermione, Ron, Padma, Anthony, Draco, Astoria, Pansy, and Zabini at one table along with Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Snape, and Tonks (who was escorted by Remus) while everyone else took the other table. Dinner consisted of wonderfully cooked steaks with warm mashed potatoes and steamed peas. Soft bread rolls were passed around and their goblets were filled pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky.

Harry enjoyed himself greatly and talked with everyone, though there was some comfortableness between Ron Weasley and the Slytherins. Harry, along with Hermione, did their best to keep the peace. Both Lupins were excited to meet Harry's date and Tonks teased them both greatly for it until Harry reminded her that Susan was her boss's niece. Susan even got in a few jabs herself. Tonks's mood varied a couple of time during the Feast because of the fact that she was more than five months pregnant and was really starting to show. After she got tired of Harry, Tonks moved on to her cousin Draco, who looked a little unnerved with his cousin and her husband.

"How have you been Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked.

Before he could reply, Tonks answered. "Oh don't you know Hermione? I've been very fine thank-you, though this baby had been a bit annoying. I'm no longer allowed to judge the Tournament and Remus here may have to take care of some of my classes later in the year."

Most of the table laughed at Tonks's little joke, though Snape appeared a little unhappy at the fact that Remus would be subbing instead of him. Harry knew he was hoping for the job as he had subbed from Remus when he taught at Hogwarts. After the laughter subsided, Remus answered Hermione.

"Like Tonks I've been fine Hermione, she's actually helped with that. I've haven't really done much as it is hard for me to get a job. I do miss teaching though which is why Tonks and Dumbledore asked me to sub. Lately I've been helping Tonks's parents out and getting a room ready for our baby. What about you all Hermione, Tonks has told me about the Tournament but she hasn't really gone into details."

"It's all very exciting and a lot of fun. It's a little helpful too as it teaches us how to defend ourselves. Finally there is some other kind of entertainment besides Quidditch."

The girl just ignored the looks she was getting from the rest of the table, most of which were Quidditch fans.

"I'm actually really excited for the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match, I've been wondering how I stack up against Harry here. He expertly took care two of Slytherin's top duelists so I can't wait until we face each other."

"Potter just got lucky against Boland and Greengrass. If he had gone up against me, Slytherin would've won that match."

"Oh Draco, you know that's not true. Everyone in the house knows that my sister is the best in Slytherin, she's even beaten you a few times."

Everyone laughed at the colored look on Draco's face when his date embarrassed him. Astoria patted his arm in consolation. Pansy looked like she was going to murder the younger girl, whither from jealously or to prove her wrong Harry didn't know.

"If you are so confidante Draco, you and I could always have a little duel ourselves once the Tournament starts up again. You know that exhibition duels are allowed, it would be the perfect time to back your claims up."

Once again Draco's cheeks colored, this time from nervousness and didn't answer, though Astoria did. "That reminds me Harry, my sister wants to challenge you sometime to one of those duels. She said something about proving who the best duelist in Hogwarts was."

"I'll be happy to accept your sister's challenge and I'll get back to her when I can. As for you Hermione, we always could have our little rematch as an exhibition duel, or would you care to wait until we meet in the Tournament?"

"I'd be happy to duel you Harry if we don't meet in the Tournament."

"HA!" This came from Ron, who had been stuffing his mouth but had finally stopped, spewing food over the table. "You don't stand a chance against Hermione. In fact, you won't even get the chance to face her as John will easily mop the floor with you, then everyone will see who the better wizard is."

"Now that is the duel I'm most looking forward to." Everyone turned to Zabini, who had been quiet throughout the meal.

"Me too" said Malfoy, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, thinking about the duel.

"I admit, Potter versus Potter would make the most interesting duel. The question is who would win, any takers?"

"Now, now Severus, you know that as teacher we aren't allowed to bet. Ten galleons on Harry here!"

"I'm not going to take you up on that bet Nymphadora, I too believe Ravenclaw Potter would win. What about you Filius, Pomona, do you wish to place a bet?"

Soon the entire table had placed a wager on who would win the Potter Duel. Harry was shocked and embarrassed by all the support he got, nearly the entire table had bet on him except for Sprout and Ron who betted on John, and Hermione who was above such action. The bet even spilled over to the other table where most of the loyalty went to John. Dumbledore and John tried to persuade everyone else that John was the better wizard but nearly all the students and a couple of the teachers that knew Harry still sided with him. The headmaster finally agreed to hold an exhibition duel to find out the real winner and where everyone could collect their money. Harry suspected that by midnight, everyone would know about the duel and make their own bets.

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><p><strong>I'm sure you all know the drill by now; read, review, ask questions. <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the late post, Fanfiction was behaving weird again yesterday. Anyways, here's the next chapter in _Scar & Bones_.**

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><p>Harry was currently dancing around the Great Hall while Susan's head rested on his chest. As soon as dinner finished, Dumbledore cleared all the tables for the actual Ball. Magically amplified music echoed across the Hall as a large majority of the students danced. Only those in the bottom two years and some third years, a handful of upper years, and those that hadn't gotten dates stood or sat by the benches along the back wall.<p>

Harry had some formal dance lessons in the past due to the fact he was born into the Potter family but hadn't many opportunities to use them. Although he had escorted Luna in his fourth year, she wasn't much for dancing so they only did two songs before stopping for the night. Susan however, simply loved dancing and had practically dragged Harry to the dance floor the moment the tables were cleared. They were currently in their third song which was an extremely slow one, allowing those still dancing a bit of a rest.

Of to the side Harry could see Hannah and Neville in a similar position as him and Susan. Harry could tell that the boy's dancing had improved since fourth year as he had trod all over little Ginny Weasley's feet last time. From what he saw, Hannah's feet hadn't been stepped on once. Farther down the floor, Harry could see that Ginny was also enjoying the lack of horrible dancing with John. Hermione however wasn't so lucky. Harry was surprised she had stuck around for a second dance with the number of times Ron had danced on her toes instead of the floor. She was currently rubbing her feet was her date filled himself at the refreshment table.

Once the song ended, Susan lifted her head from his chest and opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted.

"My I cut in?"

Harry was strongly tempted to say no to his sister, but Susan smiled and allowed Luna to take her place while she rested. The music started up again and Harry stirred her around the floor.

"I thought you didn't like dancing?"

"I don't mind it. I'll dance every now and then but I just don't like continuous dancing like at balls, weddings, or other parties. Besides, I can't pass up this opportunity to question my brother about him and his girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend Luna, not yet. And what about you, what's with you and Michel Corner?"

"Oh, nothing. He saw I was by myself and offered to escort me in as you were busy. He wasn't about to try anything on me, especially with his girlfriend around. Actually, I think the reason I can't get a date at all isn't because of my so called oddness but because you're are my 'big brother'. You're quite scary, more so than a normal brother, and I think that scares potential boyfriends off."

"Well, I'm sorry for preventing you from having a love life."

She waved off his comment, sarcastic or not. "That's O.K. Harry, it gives me a chance to think. Maybe boys aren't for me, maybe I'll have to do what you and Neville did and find a nice girl. In fact, I think I'll go looking now. See yah Harry."

With that, Luna Lovegood left Harry standing alone in the middle of the Great Hall. He starred after her for a few seconds before chuckling at the thought of how many girls Luna would scare off before the night was over. Knowing her, his personal bet would be about thirty.

"What's so funny?" Susan rejoined him, giving him a weird look.

"Oh, Luna."

"It's a good thing that you consider her your sister, otherwise I don't think I'd be able to compete with her."

Brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face, Harry looked Susan in the eyes. "Trust me, there's no competition between you two."

Susan blushed and continued the dance Luna had left Harry in the middle of. At the end of that dance, they decided to take a break and sat at one of the empty tables nearby. From his seat, Harry could see Tonks leading Remus back out onto the dance floor for another attempt at dancing due to the fact her pregnancy made in difficult. Near those two, he could also see Malfoy, pale again, dancing with Daphne, who it looked like was interrogating him about his intentions towards her sister. He watched as the male blonde tried to escape his female counterpart but was pulled back.

They sat there for two songs before Susan pulled him back out for some more dancing. Harry didn't even protest. They danced one song before they were split up once again, this time by Hannah.

"You don't mind if we switch dates for a couple of dances do you Susan?"

The girl didn't have a choice as Hannah dragged Harry away, leaving Susan and Neville together. Hannah dragged Harry along the floor until they reached the other side before she started her own interrogation while dancing.

"So, how are you enjoying yourself with Susan tonight Harry?"

"Fine, just fine. Me and Susan have been having a lot of fun."

"That's good, I'd hate to pull the overprotective sister routine with you."

"Oh really, you?"

"Listen, me and Susan have been best friends ever since we started Hogwarts, so I'm the closest thing to a sister she has. In fact, I'm the closest thing to a family member she has at Hogwarts right now, so I'm the only one who can threaten you with harm right now if you hurt her like Seamus did."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "I'd never hurt her like that ponce did."

"I know Harry, it's just, she was really cut up about it. I know I'm not much of a threat to you; in fact I wonder if anyone here is, but I can remind you of others who would gladly hurt you if you hurt her. You obviously know about her aunt and the number of Aurors and Magical Law Enforcement personal at her command, so I don't need to remind you about her. And then there's Cedric. We both considered him to be our older brother, much you and Luna. Although he got to where he was because of his father's connection in the Ministry, don't think it was only because of that. He has to be pretty talented to maintain such a high position, especially in a cut-throat world as the Ministry of Magic."

Harry knew what she was referring to. Cedric Diggory, the only son of Amos Diggory, the Head of the Being Division at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Cedric was currently the sub-head of the Department of Magical Games, partly because of his abilities in the Triwizard Tournament and his skills as a Seeker and Captain for the Hufflepuff team.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them both in mind. But you don't have to worry just yet, we're not an official couple right now."

"We, you'll just have to correct that won't you? I'm glad you're thinking and that you'll keep my threats at the front of your mind. Now come on, I think Susan wants her date back."

The two danced back over to where Susan and Neville were dancing together and switched again. This happened a couple of times; Harry danced with Luna and Hannah a couple more times, along with Tonks, Hermione, Padma, Astoria, and Daphne, who officially challenged him to a duel later that year. Susan danced with Neville again, Remus, Ron (to her disgust), Draco, and Anthony. Thankfully, Harry danced with Susan more than any other girl and was having on last dance with her when her ex decided to ruin things for them.

"You know," Seamus said while Ron and Dean were standing next to him, "I think I know the real reason you asked Susan out Potter. It's because her aunt's the Head of Magical Law Enforcement isn't it? You know that you're unremarkable and that you have no talents that stand out, so you're dating her niece to get Amelia Bones to notice you. That way you can get in the Auror Academy without doing any hard work."

The three boys laughed hard while a tearful Susan turned towards Harry.

"Is this true?" she asked.

Harry couldn't answer, the way Susan was looking at him hurt. Taking his silence as proof, Susan burst into tears and ran off. Hannah saw what happened and ran after her friend, leaving Neville with Harry. Harry himself watched the girls leave, then he released his anger. The boys' laughter rang in his ears as he turned and drew his wand from its holder. He pointed his wand at them and they quieted immediately as they were unarmed. He was trying to figure out what curse to use on them, ignoring Neville's comments.

"Harry, they're not worth it. Susan wouldn't want you to get in trouble for her."

"Seam Finnegan! As per the rules of the Tournament, I challenge you to an official duel as soon as the term starts up again."

Ron and Seamus were smirking while Dean was looking a little nervous. No doubt the two thought that had the advantage while the other remembered his skill during the Tournament. For this, Dean got a little respect.

"I accept. In fact, why don't we make this a little interesting. How about a wager. If I win, you dump Susan and she becomes my girlfriend again."

"Agreed, and if I win, you leave Susan alone, and never speak to her ever again."

"Agreed. I look forward to defeating you in public and proving that there's nothing special about you, unlike your brother."

The boys laughed again and walked away. Neville stood behind Harry, biting his lip while Luna just starred after the boys.

"I'm going to find Susan. She needs to know that I would never use her like they said."

Luna nodded and grabbed Neville to dance with him. Harry ran out the Great Hall doors, ignoring the many looks his challenge had brought. Looking around, Harry saw that Hannah was standing by the Entrance Hall doors that led out on to the grounds. When he joined her, she pointed off to a small stone bench. Even in the dark, Harry could see Susan's bright red hair.

"She doesn't want to talk to me, or anyone for that matter. She's feeling really horrible, I think she might have been falling for you Harry."

"I'll talk to her, go on back to Neville."

"I don't think that such a good id…"

"Go! I'll explain everything to her, I promise."

Hannah looked at Harry for a couple of seconds before slowly nodding and walking back to the Ball. Harry walked out the doors and found the air warm and comfortable. The snow crunched a bit as he walked towards Susan, thinking about how to explain. As he got closer, he could easily hear Susan's heavy sobs, they were just as bad as the ones when Seamus dumped her.

"Susan?"

"Go away Harry!"

The girl didn't even turn around, just continued to face the opposite direction and sob. Harry ignored her and sat down next to her. He tried to put his arm around her but she shrugged it off.

"Susan look, I would never use you like that. Yes I want to get into the Auror Academy, but I want to do it on my own skill, not use someone else's influence. I know that I have the skills to do it. Just ignore Seamus, he's just jealous that he lost the best looking girl at the Ball before it was even announced. He's jealous because _I_ got her, and I'm not letting her go."

He once again tried to place his arm around her. This time, Susan allowed him to and turned so that she was crying into his chest. Harry pulled her closer and wrapped his other arm around her, rubbing her back. They sat there for a long time with Harry rocking her and Susan's sobs slowly getting softer until they were hiccups. At last Susan moved her head and looked up at Harry. Her eyes were shinning with tears and what little make-up she had on was running, but she still looked beautiful in Harry's eyes.

"Hey, you feeling better?"

"You mean you're not using me Harry?"

"I would never do such a thing Susan, I like you too much. In fact, I think I really like you."

He said the last part as a whisper but Susan heard it and smiled.

"I really like you too Harry, I think I have since second year. I've liked you for a long time and the feelings never really went away. Every time you glanced at me or said something to me, I got this funny feeling in my stomach. When you asked me out during the summer my head felt all dizzy and it hurt to turn you down. All the time you spent tutoring me, my heart wouldn't stop pounding, I thought it was going to burst outta my chest."

She sniffed again and looked back up at Harry. "Where does this leave us?"

Instead of answering, Harry leaned down and lightly kissed Susan's lips. He could feel her relax in his arms. It was only a short kiss but when he pulled back, Susan's eyes were closed in bliss. She sighed and looked back up at Harry.

"Susan, will you be my girlfriend?"

This time, Susan started the kiss, and this time, it was harder, more needy. Susan clung tightly to Harry, not willing to let him go. Harry felt the same way, and held her close to him. Neither wanted the kiss to end, but they finally did when air became important.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then?"

Susan's answer was to restart their kiss. The new couple stayed outside for a long time, enjoying their new relationship. The cold didn't bother them at all, even as the warming charms slowly faded. By the time they went back inside, both their lips were red and their clothes a little disheveled. People were leaving the Great Hall as the Ball was coming to a close. A smirking Luna was waiting for them by the doors and when she saw them come in, waved and started walking back to the Tower. Hannah and Neville were one of the last couples still inside the Hall, both looking a little worried. When she saw them, Hannah came running over.

"There you are, I was really worried about you. I thought you had killed Harry."

"I wouldn't do that" she said, leaning against her new boyfriend. Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Hannah saw this and her smile grew wide.

"I take it you're fine now?"

"Absolutely perfect, like everything's right in the world."

"Good" her friend responded, kissing Neville then grabbing her arm. "You have to tell me all about it. Now say good-bye to your boyfriend and let's go."

Susan turned around in Harry's arms and gave him what started out to be a short kiss but ended up being like one of their kisses outside. It was only interrupted by an impatient Hannah tapping her foot on the ground and a little cough like Umbridge's. When they finally separated, the blonde grabbed her red-headed friend and dragged her away, no doubt to being an interrogation that would last the rest of the night.

When Harry walked into the common room, he found Luna was the only one there. Everyone else had gone to bed due to it being so late.

"So, how did it go?"

"It was fine, thought I think the better question is 'how many'?"

Luna cocked her head to give Harry a funny look, then began her explanation. "I got six stares, seven wide eyes, three slaps, five screams, four who fled, two blinks, three scoffs, one 'I don't swing that way', and one maybe."

Doing the math in his head, Harry got thirty-two girls. He was actually surprised she got so many but was even more surprised by the last response.

"So, you going to take that last one up on her offer?"

Luna shrugged. "I don't know, Alannis looked a little drunk when I asked but I guess we'll see during the first Hogsmeade visit." With that, the blonde got up from her chair and skipped up to her dorm, leaving a shocked Harry behind.

The days after Christmas passed quickly and the start of the new term was approaching. Harry and Susan used this time to spend as much time together as possible because with the new term came the restart of Quidditch and the Tournament, so Harry was going to be busy. When they weren't cuddling together in the Room of Requirement, they were in the library working on homework with Neville, Hannah, and Luna. Harry was also looking through Defense books for spells for the Tournament and to teach Susan.

When the few students who had gone home for Christmas returned, they were treated to exaggerated wonders of what Hogwarts looked like over the break. Some of the older students who had never stayed at Hogwarts over break started to grumble over missed opportunities.

Once again classes started up and the teachers began assigning more homework than ever to the seventh years in preparation of their N.E.W.T. exams. Quidditch and the Tournament were one again and many students were excited for the first match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, which would take place on the first weekend of February. Tournament practices were toned down a bit as they wouldn't face Hufflepuff until March while the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match was two weeks after the Tournament.

When the day of the match arrived, everyone was buzzing. Before the actual match was to begin, the exhibition duels would take place. So far, no exhibitions had been held, but Harry and Seamus were correcting that today. As Snape was judging the first round, he also would be judging the exhibition duel. As Harry climbed the platform, he could see Susan fidgeting nervously as she was going to watch her current boyfriend take on her ex. For her sake, Harry didn't tell her about the little bet he and Seamus made and asked Neville, Hannah, and Luna not to mention it either.

The two seventh year boys met in the center of the dueling platform and glared at each other. They bowed as Snape commanded and walked to their opposite ends. On Seamus's side, Harry could see Ron standing a little ways away as Seamus's second. Luna had offered to be Harry's, but he refused to have one.

"One…two…THREE!"

Before Snape finished, Harry could see Seamus moving. Ready, Harry brought up a shield and sent Seamus's disarmer just over his head. A little surprised, Seamus paused before sending a round of stunners. Harry blocked each and everyone one of them, not even bothering to attack just yet. Three times the Irish boy paused in his attack to examine for any openings, but finding none, resumed his attack, trying to overpower his opponent. Finally, Seamus stopped, fear flooding his face at the sight of Harry's almost bored expression. Using this opportunity, Harry fired his own stunner and launched the boy off the platform.

It took a second or two for Weasley to comprehend that he was supposed to take over, but he did and charged up the platform. Wand raised, he prepared to fire a spell but Harry didn't let him. With a quick wave, Harry silently bound his feet together, sending the red-head to the ground. He then summoned the wand away and Snape proclaimed Harry the winner. The two Gryffindors grumbled but had no choice to accept defeat. Seamus sent Harry one last glare before storming out of the Hall while Weasley had to be comforted a bit by his girlfriend.

As he stepped down, Harry felt that it had been too easy and was a little disappointed. However, the reward was well worth it as Susan gave him a searing congratulations kiss that lasted for a couple minutes. There were a couple whistles as they broke apart but neither cared. Snape then began the match and they watched as John, Ron, and Dean beat Malfoy and his goons while Hermione, Ginny, and Fay lost to the Greengrass sisters and Tracey Davis. John, Matlock, and Ron once again took to the platform against Malfoy, Boland, and Zabini. Gryffindor won their second match, though only barely.

Both Malfoy and Snape were highly displeased but there was nothing they could do and John gave Harry a very big smirk, as if he had already won the Tournament. Harry personally congratulated Daphne for his excellent performance. The blonde gave a small smile and nod towards Harry and Susan before walking off. The Tournament Board outside the Hall once again showed Gryffindor in the lead, followed by Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and finally Hufflepuff. Most of the Puffs were disappointed with their team's performance as they didn't have much of a chance to claim the Cup now. Others however were already siding with Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, with everyone excited for the last match.

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><p><strong>Many of you have been giving ideas in your reviews. I may include some of them in my story, thanks. Read, review, and ask questions if you have them.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry about the really late posting, I've been so busy with school I have'nt the time to write. I also have so many stories floating around in my head that I have also worked on them. In order to get them out of my head, I've started typing them up and will post some of them soon, so please be on the lookout. As of now, I'll stop posting every week and only post once I've finished a chapter. This will be for all my stories. **

**Another thing, I seen how long it is taking to get through Hogwarts and I'm starting to think it is taking too long. At this rate, the rest of the story probably won't take up six chapters and I don't want that. So, I've taken a few things out so that I could get out of Hogwarts and into the real story of Harry vs. Voldemort. Hopefully we'll get into the good stuff soon.**

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><p>As Harry and the Ravenclaws walked out onto the field, it started to rain. Large grey clouds had filled the sky for the past couple of days so it really was no surprise. Thankfully it was a light rain and not a storm. Across the field Malfoy lead the Slytherins towards Harry and Madam Hooch. A quick hand shake and fifteen brooms took to the sky. The cheering wasn't real loud, the usual people were cheering for Slytherin while half the school was for Ravenclaw.<p>

As the game progressed, it started to rain harder and chilled Harry to the bone. This only caused him to want to end the game sooner as Malfoy's team was using brute force to win, two of his Chasers tackled one of Harry's, nearly taking her out of the game. Although they had never been above cheating, the Slytherins were clearly emphasizing power over skill or speed in this game. Due to Harry's strategy, Slytherin never took the lead by more than thirty points but Ravenclaw lost the lead they had gained in the beginning of the game after ten minutes.

However, much like the Gryffindor game, Slytherin was not to be denied. Launching the two Bludgers at the Ravenclaw Keeper, they tipped the balance in their favor. Unfortunately for the Keeper, he wasn't as lucky as Ginny Weasley was. The first Bludger broke his right arm while the second broke his broom and Harry was forced to bring on his reserve Keeper, who wasn't as good. With this, Slytherin was able to pull ahead by more than a hundred points.

At last, Harry saw the Snitch and took off. Malfoy was good, but Harry was better and had the superior broom and soon left the blonde boy behind. The Snitch still ran however, evading capture for another two minutes before Harry's hand closed around it. The Ravenclaws cheered as Harry flew around the stadium, fist held high to show that he had the Snitch. They had done it, they had won. Until Harry looked towards the score board and his face fell. They hadn't won. During the chase, a Slytherin Chaser took one last shot and with the Keeper distracted, brought Slytherin up by ten points. The game was a tie at three hundred and ten points each. Everyone looked at each other; this was the first tie at Hogwarts in a long time, maybe the first ever.

It was now raining harder as the two teams entered their locker rooms. Harry gave his team a good job speech and quietly told the reserve Keeper it wasn't his fault that it was a tie. The fourth year believed otherwise and sadly left the locker room. Susan of course was waiting for Harry outside to give him his reward for 'an excellent catch'. Harry of course, told her that she was, to which she blushed.

As February gave way into March, Susan's skills slowly increased. They eventually came to the point where Harry seriously thought that Susan could become a real threat in the Tournament. When he asked her if she was going to participate, she kissed him and said no. She had a lot more fun watching the Tournament than actually fighting. That and she didn't want to go against her boyfriend, which was a real possibility as the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff match was that weekend.

Sure enough, the match came with many people betting on the outcome. Harry shook Albert Richardson's hand and both Captains cleared the way for the first round duelists. Padma, Terry, and David Johnson, a fifth year with incredible speed and high hopes took the stage for Ravenclaw while Hannah and two other boys were for Hufflepuff. The Puffs had seen Padma and Terry duel before so they went for David thinking he would be easy. The little kid moved like the hounds of hell were at his heels, dodging spells faster than they could cast them. By the time the Puffs realized their mistake, one of the boys was stunned. It didn't take much for the Ravenclaws to press their advantage and soon the second boy was stunned by Padma while David disarmed Hannah.

The Ravenclaws gathered around the stage cheered while the Hufflepuffs groaned, they weren't thinking very high of their chances now with Harry up next. Susan cheered for her best friend and gave her a hug along with Neville when she stepped down, then the three turned around to cheer Harry, who had taken the stage with Alannis and Luna against Albert, Ernie, and Zacharias. A few Puffs looked at Susan funny but didn't say anything.

Harry knew that speed wouldn't be the way to win here; all three Hufflepuffs were good and would suspect the speed attacks. The moment the duel began, all three Ravenclaws sent their most powerful stunners at their opponents. Unfortunately for Smith, Harry's stunner was stronger than most and fell, the other two weren't going to fall that quickly. Moving to engage Albert, Harry let Alannis and Luna take care of Ernie.

Again speed wouldn't work here, Albert was fast himself and an expert in shielding; Harry had gone up against him in a duel last year. Harry moved to attack but Albert blocked his spells again and again while Ernie did the same with the girls; neither Puff was given the opportunity to attack themselves. Harry wasn't frustrated; he was trying to wear Albert down until an opening was made. Alannis and Luna though, were starting to get angry at their inability to get past Ernie's shield. If they weren't careful, they were going to make a mistake.

It finally happened after five minutes into the duel, Ernie's shield managed to deflect Luna's stunner towards her. She dodged her own stunner but was unable to avoid Ernie's, who made a desperate attempt to take out one of his opponents. Both sides were now down to two duelists but it wouldn't last. Ernie was tired and after one particularly powerful stunner, dropped to his knees and lost his wand. He then raised his arms up in surrender in time to see Harry hit Albert in the foot with a stunner. Normally it wouldn't be enough to stun anyone, but with Harry, Albert was briefly stunned before overcoming it. Harry though had sent one last stunner at him, which caught Albert in the chest and dropped him.

The duel was over and Ravenclaw had won its second match. Harry revived Albert and shook his hand while the blue students cheered their loudest. Once off the platform, Susan gave Harry a kiss in congratulations and the two exited the Hall.

The next day was the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff Quidditch Match and Harry joined Susan and Hannah cheering for the Hufflepuffs against his brother. John seemed to have learned his lesson against the Slytherins and had order the Beaters to go after the Hufflepuff Chasers. Because of this, the badgers couldn't score as often but their shooting percentage was really good. Out of all seven shots, Ron only managed to save one. However, this wasn't enough to win as John finally caught the Snitch, despite a sneak attack from the Hufflepuff Beaters and Seeker. It certainly wasn't the worst defeat Hufflepuff suffered but many were shaking their heads sadly. Smith was certainly angry as he threw the Quaffle hard at Ron Weasley, knocking him off his broom.

Quidditch was again put on hold as the next match wouldn't be for another two months with Hufflepuff again playing, this time against Slytherin. The time in-between would be studying along with a break during Easter, then in mid-April would be the Hufflepuff/Slytherin dueling match followed by two short weeks until the Quidditch match. Harry however, was not going to be holding back. Although he had a large break until the Quidditch and Dueling matches with Gryffindor, Harry planned to use the time wisely so that his teams would beat John when the time came. He seriously doubted John would be doing this but it never hurt to be sure.

Harry was incredibly busy managing the team practices, often being too tired to do his homework in the evening. This once again cut into his time with Susan, though she didn't mind, having just as much homework as Harry. Both were glad when Easter came around and they were able to relax. They spent most of their time outside enjoying the slowly warming weather, taking long walks around the lake.

Remus had written before the break to tell Harry that his flat was ready and that if he came home over break he could see it. Not wanting to spend time away from Susan, who was staying over the break, and being forced to be in the same house as John for a week, Harry declined and told Remus that he would see it over the summer. From what he understood, the flat wasn't too small with two bedrooms and a nice kitchen. It was also fairly close to the Ministry so Harry wouldn't have much of a commute when he joined the Aurors.

He had also told Susan about it and she was fairly interested in seeing it sometime. She was going to continue living with her aunt while she studied healing. She would get her own place a couple years later when she was financially secure.

As soon as the break ended, notices went up for the seventh years to meet with their Head of House to discuss their chosen career choice. This was much like the career advice they had gotten in fifty year, only this time, it was to make sure that they were on the right track to apply for their chosen career. Harry's was at the end of Friday.

"Sit down Mr. Potter."

When Harry entered Flitwick's office, the little professor was seated behind his desk with Harry's file before him. It was also more pleasant without Professor Umbridge around, who had interrupted every couple of minutes to make her own comments.

"As you know we are here to discuss your career options once you leave Hogwarts and what may be available to you with your grades. I remember that you want to be an Auror and from what I see here, I see no reason why you shouldn't get into the academy. I am most pleased with your Charms work, straight O's for the past five years. McGonagall has also marked you high for Transfiguration so that's good. Your Potions work seems reasonably good, as does your Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Herbology is excellent and of course your Defense grades are top notch, I think that's the sixth year they've been that way.

"All in all, your N.E.W.T. grades look quite good. I also see that you plan on taking a Muggle Studies O.W.L. over the summer so that will help a bit. I'll be more than happy to pass on your dueling skills to the Aurors, as will Professor Tonks-Lupin. You might even want to talk to her about getting into the Academy yourself. In the end, I'll be very surprised if you are _refused_ entrance to the Corps Harry, well done. Do you have any questions?"

"No professor."

"Well, that concludes our little meeting. I advise you to continue your studies as well as doing excellent work in the Tournament. I hear Madam Bones is coming and impressing the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would go a long way to helping you make the Academy. Not to mention that you are dating her niece."

Harry shook his head at Professor Flitwick's giggles and went to join Susan in the library. After Easter, the teachers had given them the largest amount of homework Harry had ever seen. In order to complete it all, Harry had to cancel some of his practices or give them to his subordinates. The fact that he, Susan, Neville, and Hannah were working together helped as they all had their own areas of expertise.

Once again it was time for the Dueling Tournament. Not very many people were interested in this round as neither team had won a round but Slytherin was the favored house. It ended up being a three match round. First was Boland with a Slytherin victory followed by Richardson and Hufflepuff. The last match was dominated by the Greengrass sisters. The three boys for Hufflepuff never stood a chance against Daphne. One flick of her hair and it was over in less than a minute.

The students wearing green cheered as their Ice Queen won them their first, and only, victory in the Tournament. The Hufflepuffs were down hearted as they had no wins, though many of them were expecting that after performances from Harry and John. Everyone was now excited for the final match against Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, which would take place the week after the Slytherin/Hufflepuff Quidditch Match and a week before the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor one. Everyone wanted to see Harry and John finally duel.

Of course, no one in fifth or seventh year had much time to think about either competition. With a little more than a month until O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, the teachers had increased the amount of homework yet again, never mind they hadn't finish working on the ones since Easter. Tonks had assigned the least amount of homework as she had recently given birth. Harry had been in the library when Sirius had come barging in.

"Harry…Tonks…little Marauder" was all he managed to get out before he collapsed. Thankfully that was all Harry needed and he tore out of the library with Susan hot on his heels. They had left behind a confused Neville, Hannah, and Hermione, who had joined them. Harry ran all the way to the Hospital Wing.

Outside he saw a pacing Remus, worry and nerves all over his face. He looked up when Harry arrived and smiled a little before resuming his steps. James Potter was standing next to the door, also looking nervous.

"Your mother is inside helping Madam Pomfrey deliver the baby" said Remus.

Harry nodded and sat down against the wall. Susan joined him and leaned against his shoulder. There they waited for a long time, waiting for news. Sirius rejoined them not long after Harry arrived, in his Animagus form. As Padfoot, he tried to sneak into the Hospital Wing but was shooed out by an angry Lily Potter. He also received a bad Stinging Hex to his snout for his troubles. Whining he lay down next to Harry and put his paws over his snout.

Everyone laughed at his reaction but it was soon cut off by a loud, long string of curses coming from inside the Hospital. Remus had stopped pacing and had gone pale at the threats and promises Tonks was yelling out she'd do to him. Harry couldn't blame him, many of them were rather painful. Tonks certainly had quite the imagination and vocabulary. Andromeda and Ted, Tonks' parents joined them just after they started.

"Where is she, where's Nymphadora?"

Harry, James, and Susan pointed towards the doors while Remus remained frozen. Mrs. Tonks muttered about not being able to help her daughter with her delivery while Mr. Tonks walked over to Remus and put an arm on his shoulder. They remained this way, with Mrs. Tonks pacing now instead of Remus. Then, they heard the sound they had all been waiting for.

A piercing baby's cry sounded through the door and everyone started chattering at once. James smiled and walked over to Remus.

"Congratulations you old dog!"

He gave him such a hard pat that Remus was nearly knocked over. The door opened and Lily appeared. Sirius whimpered again and put his paws over his snout. Lily just gave him a glare before telling Remus he could go in. With a glazed look over his face, Remus did, barely paying any attention to those around him. There were some hurried footsteps and everyone turned to see Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Sprout along with John coming down the corridor.

"Well?" asked the headmaster.

"It's a boy" replied Lily. Chatter filled the corridor as everyone started talking amongst themselves. Sprout and McGonagall exchanged words with Lily, asking about the new baby and what he looked like. James and Dumbledore were talking together and Sirius transformed to join them. The doors opened again and Madam Pomfrey allowed them inside to see the baby.

At the far end of the ward, Tonks was lying on a bed, a small bundle held in her arms, Remus standing over her. Every once and a while they would glance down to remind themselves that their child was really there. Slowly, the curious guests circled around the happy family to get a look.

He was small, Harry thought. About the only thing he could really see was a tuft of black hair that suddenly changed to blonde before everyone's eyes.

"So he's a Metamorphmagus too?"

"Yes, just like his mother and absolutely no trace of lycanthropy at all."

Harry could tell that this pleased Remus greatly as it was his greatest fear than he pass on his dieses onto another innocent.

"Harry," Tonks asked, "you remember what I talked to you about after the Welcoming Feast?"

Harry nodded, smiling. Remus and Tonks smiled too and held their son out to Harry.

"Harry, met your godson, Ted Remus Lupin."

Harry carefully took the baby from his mother's arms and tensed as he shifted uncomfortably, then relaxed as little Teddy stilled.

"To Teddy Remus Lupin," said Sirius, a little too loudly, "A great wizard in the making."

"To Teddy" said everyone except Dumbledore.

"Are you sure about your choice Remus," he asked. "After all, godfather is a big responsibility and Harry-"

"Is the best person for the job" finished Remus. "Dora and I both agree."

Harry ignored them as Teddy had opened his eyes. Susan leaned over and smiled down at him. Teddy giggled and smiled back up at her, then scrunched up his face. His hair was now ginger and his eyes were emerald green, a perfect combination of Harry and Susan.

"Well," Sirius joked, "now we know what your future children look like, right?"

Harry would've slapped Sirius if his arms weren't full. Everyone laughed at the bright red faces Harry and Susan made.

Like Tonks had said, Remus had started subbing in the weeks leading up to and after Teddy's birth. When Remus was unable to teach, Tonks returned briefly while her parents looked after Teddy. Tonks had agreed to help Harry and Fay Dunbar get into the Auror Academy after graduation and had privately told Harry she had passed on word of the Tournament to her superiors at the Auror Office. They could expect a small handful to show up to watch the final duel.

Homework was lessened the week of the Hufflepuff/Slytherin match due to the excitement that was expected over the next three weeks. That Saturday, Harry joined Susan in the Hufflepuff section the cheer on their team. The cheers stopped after a few minutes however with Slytherin racking up a large amount of points.

As the match progressed, the pressure on the Hufflepuff Seeker grew and grew to end the match quickly before the points became too high. Malfoy was enjoying himself and would often times feint to throw the other Seeker off to keep the game going. He was finally forced the catch the Snitch and end the game five hundred and twenty to one hundred and ten. It was the worst defeat Hufflepuff had ever seen and guaranteed Slytherin the Quidditch Cup. Harry knew it would difficult to get the necessary points to defeat Slytherin, but it would be close.

All the next week, the only thing anyone could talk about was the upcoming Dueling Tournament Final and the much anticipated Potter vs. Potter match. It quickly boiled over into the halls like it would for the Quidditch Final. Every day, groups of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students would be sent to the Hospital Wing with antlers sticking out of their heads, tails growing down their back, or with extra hands, legs, or eyes. Harry was relatively immune as the Gryffindors wanted him to be in top form when John beat him, proving who the better twin was once and for all.

On the morning of the Tournament, Harry arrived to breakfast early. He and Susan ate quickly before leaving for a walk around the lake. It was a warm and sunny day without a cloud in the sky. Harry would've seriously considered eating lunch down by the lake if there wasn't the Tournament. Instead, the couple positioned themselves along the shore, took off their shoes and socks, and put their feet in the cool water. They sat there for a while until a women's cough caught there attention.

Behind them was a square-jawed witch with close-cropped grey hair and a monocle in her right eye. It was Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Auntie!" squealed Susan. She ran up to give her aunt a hug, which Madam Bones returned with a smile.

"How are you Susan?"

"Great! Let me introduce you to my boyfriend. Auntie, this is Harry Potter, my boyfriend. Harry, this is my Aunt."

"Greetings Madam Bones" Harry said with a small bow.

"Likewise Mr. Potter. I have heard many things about you from my niece and Auror Tonks. I look forward to seeing you in action. Come along Susan, tell me about your year, and don't you leave anything out."

Susan gave Harry a little wave and escorted her aunt back to Hogwarts. Harry returned the way and watched the two Bones women walk away. He remained outside for a few more minutes before he decided to head back himself.

The Entrance Hall and Great Hall was full of people when he returned. A great majority of them were wearing identification badges that said they were Ministry personnel. He saw the Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour talking with Professor Dumbledore. Tonks was talking to a group of men and waved him over.

"Harry, these are some men from the Auror Office I want you to meet. You obviously know Moody and Kingsley," she said motioning to the gruff old Auror who had trained her and the tall, bald Auror who also worked in the Order of the Phoenix. Both smiled and shook Harry's hand. "This is Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror Office and Albert Savage, who's in charge of the new recruits." She motioned to a grey haired man with a scar running down his face first, then to a shorter man with blonde hair.

Harry shook their hands as well before being called over by Alannis. Dumbledore then appeared and asked everyone to take their seats. Harry took his at the head of the Ravenclaw group on the left side of the Great Hall. John was at the head position on the other side. The rest of the students were behind them with the professors and guests behind them.

"Welcome ladies, gentlemen, ghosts, and guests to the final match in the First Annual Hogwarts Dueling Championship. Today's match is Ravenclaw House versus Gryffindor House. Both houses are undefeated in the Tournament, but as you know, only one can claim victory.

"Before we begin the first match, we've decided to hold a little exhibition duel for you all. It will contain two of our best duelists as a demonstration of how well we teach our students. Our best duelist will now select his opponent. Mr. Potter, up here if you please."

At the same time, both Harry and John stood from their seats. They froze and looked at each other. Dumbledore had only called for one of them, so, which was it.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I meant _John_ Potter."

"Actually Albus," came Flitwick's voice, "Harry Potter is our best duelist. He has led the Ravenclaw Team since his third year and has only lost twice in all of his duels."

"I concur Headmaster," came Snape. "Ravenclaw Potter _is_ our best duelist. Much better than Gryffindor Potter."

Dumbledore looked around for some support but got none, so he was forced, reluctantly, to allow Harry to take the stage and tell John to sit down. As he took the stage, Harry saw that his father wasn't too happy and that the majority of the students were excited. They probably thought that Harry would challenge his brother now.

"Well Harry, please select your opponent."

He gazed across the crowd, searching for the person he wanted. He had known this was coming and couldn't wait.

"I want to challenge the person who I believe is the only one that can take me on," he said. "The one person who I think is the second best duelist in all of Hogwarts."

John made to stand up but Harry said a different name. "Daphne Greengrass!"

John froze again as whispers broke out among the students. Everyone had been expected Harry to go up against John, not the Ice Queen of Slytherin. They all turned to watch the tall blonde walk proudly up to the stage. The Slytherins were smiling, one of their own was taking part in the exhibition and they were all hoping for a victory.

"You did challenge me at Christmas, didn't you Miss Greengrass? I'm sorry it took so long but I nearly forgot about it."

"No matter Mr. Potter, I'm simply pleased that you remembered and for calling me the second best duelist at Hogwarts. I title I plan on giving to you once I take the top spot."

"We'll see."

"Very well, the challenge between Harry Potter of Ravenclaw and Daphne Greengrass shall begin! Officiating the duel shall be Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Duelists, bow to your opponents."

Harry and Daphne did as they were told. As they straightened up, Daphne flicked her hair back. Harry blinked. He had just about figured out her strategy and now he was almost sure. He just had to do one test to see if his theory was correct.

"I know your secret."

The blonde's eyes widened but she quickly composed herself. The two walked over to their separate sides.

"Wands at the ready!"

They raised their wands, getting ready to cast their first spell.

"One…two…three!"

"Aguamenti!" Harry shouted. A fountain of water burst out of his wand and drenched Daphne before she could get her shield up. There were laughter, cheers, and even a few whistles as Daphne's wet clothes hung to her curvy frame. Her shocked eyes was all the confirmation Harry needed.

People often said play to your strengths and that was exactly Daphne's strategy. She used her beauty to distract her male opponents and while they were looking at a certain part of her anatomy, she took them down. She tried to use the same thing with Harry, flicking her hair back to draw his eyes. Harry had seen through her though and used her own trick against her, her vanity was her undoing.

Harry smirked at his opponent but decided to not finish her off just yet; he wanted to have a little fun first. Daphne took one look at herself and knew that Harry had truly discovered her secret. However, he would pay for embarrassing her like this. Fury filled Daphne's face and Harry was a little unnerved.

Suddenly, the Ice Queen of Slytherin let her emotions go and fired spell after spell at Harry. The came at such a speed and ferocity that he barely had time to bring his shield up in time and it just barely held against the onslaught. Harry tried his own spells but they were reflected back. It soon became apparent that neither of them were going to get through each other's shields and that the duel was a stalemate. However, both wanted to win so badly they weren't willing to give up.

Harry knew that if he wanted to win this duel it would have to be by surprise, like he did in the beginning. The only problem was, he had no strategies for this and nothing to surprise her with. At first he thought he could do what Luna did with Draco, but then he realized it was a bad idea. Even without his girlfriend and her aunt watching, Daphne wasn't likely to fall for such a trick. She'd probably knee him if he even tried it.

Looking out into the crowd, Harry saw Susan bouncing up and down in her seat, cheering him on without saying a word. Next to her was her aunt, listening to Tonks whisper in her ear. On Tonks' other side was Remus with little Teddy happy clapping in his lap. Harry was suddenly filled with inspiration. It was a risk and might not even work but it was worth a shot, on one would _ever_ expect that move.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Harry pointed his wand at Daphne's head, waiting for his raven Patronus to fly right at her. Seeing it would shock her and give Harry and opening. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one surprised. Out of his wand burst a large, horse like creature. It had large, leather like wings and a dragon shaped face.

The force at which the Thestral burst from his wand nearly knocked Harry over but he held his ground. Seeing the Patronus coming right at her, Daphne screamed and covered her face as it passed right through her. It took a couple of seconds for Harry to register that he had an opening. Firing ropes silently out of his wand, Harry tied Daphne up. Unable to keep her balance, she fell on her bum and dropped her wand.

It took everyone else a while to realize that the duel was over and that Harry had won. Once they did; Susan, Luna, and Alannis stood up and cheered along with the majority of the Ravenclaws. Most of the adults politely clapped as Harry walked over to his fallen opponent. He released the ropes and held out his hand to help Daphne up. She glared at him for a moment like she was going to slap his hand away before smiling and taking it.

He helped her stand and then the two bowed tow each other once more and then the crowd. As they walked off the stage, Daphne spoke softly to him.

"Not bad Potter, I certainly wasn't expecting that. I guess you really do deserve the title of best duelist at Hogwarts, congratulations."

"Thank-you Greengrass, but you nearly had me on the ropes a couple of times. I look forward to facing you again in the future."

"We'll see, I want to focus on healer training first. Maybe after the war we'll see about hold another rematch. Until then, good-luck Potter."

"You too, Greengrass."

He was about to take his seat when she called out to him one last time.

"Oh, and you better beat your brother because I'm NOT taken third best."

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><p><strong>I hope you all liked this duel. I like Daphne's character and may bring her back in for something later, I'm not sure yet. Next chapter will have all you've been waiting for, the final duel between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and Harry vs. John. <strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is the next chapter. This one was interesting to write and I came up with a few ideas for some things later in the story. I think I'll have just one more Hogwarts chapter and then its on to the war outside. Read and review.**

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><p>As Harry sat down, he thought about how and why his Patronus changed. A Patronus assumed the form of something you identified with protection or some animal close to you, like an Animagus. Harry had no Animagus but he loved flying, something he found out when he joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team.<p>

A Patronus changed when you had a major traumatic or life changing event. Tonks' had changed to Remus's werewolf form when he rejected her when she admitted she loved him. He thought about why his Patronus had changed from a raven to a Thestral. Then it hit him, he had spoken with Death, been comforted by the thought of it and accepted it even. He had spoken with and identified with Thestrals.

Before Harry could ponder further, Dumbledore started the final round of the Tournament. As Captain for Ravenclaw, Harry had to go up and shake hands with the Gryffindor Captain. Surprisingly, it was John up on the stage. Dumbledore must have finally made him Captain for the match. John smirked, and then quickly shook Harry's hand.

Up first were John, Ron, and the former Gryffindor Dueling Captain Angus Matlock versus Terry, Padma, and Anthony. Harry had a feeling he knew who would win. It started off quickly with Padma going right for Ron the second Flitwick's wand was down. Officially, Padma had long forgiven Ron for his treatment towards her at the Yule Ball three years ago. Unofficially, she was beyond mad and would not rest until he had been completely embarrassed. She went him with fire in her eyes while Terry and Anthony battled John and Angus respectively.

It was certainly interesting. Ron was barely holding his own, sending a random Stunner whenever he had an opening. Terry was in much the same position as Ron, only he was able to fire spells a little more often and accurately. Anthony and Angus were watching each other carefully, looking for an opening in each other's defense. All three duels were happening fast paced and everyone was enjoying themselves. Many of the students were shouting helpful or distracting comments to the duelists on either side.

Harry knew it had to end sometime and it did. Ron, in a moment of stupid luck, fired a weak Cutting Curse at Padma. It missed her arm but hit her hair instead, sending a couple of hairs to the ground. Padma paused just long enough to feel the damage. A couple of boys and quite a few girls sent Ron pity glances; you never messed with a girl's hair, especially when she was already mad at you.

With a furious cry, Padma began casting spell after spell after spell. All five other duelists were dodging her attacks as she went wild. Even Flitwick had to duck, but not by much. She got Ron, but was too angry to notice John and Angus fire their own spells at her. The duel threatened to continue like normal until both Gryffindor's attacked Terry at the same time. He went down as he was still crouching from hiding from Padma's attacks.

Anthony however, wouldn't go down so easily. He jumped, turned, and dodged as quickly as he could, not wanting to be the one who gave Ravenclaw their first ever loss. Unfortunately, as good as he was, he could not hold his own. While dodging one Stunner from John, he ran into another from Angus. Angus himself fell too one last spell Anthony fired before he went down. This left John as the only one standing and gave Gryffindor the first round. The Gryffindors and Gryffindor supporters cheered and truly believed that they would win. Harry could see Dumbledore smiling from his seat.

Anthony and Terry apologized to Harry as they got off the stage while Padma blushed. Beside Harry were Alannis and Luna. Facing them were Hermione, Ginny, and Fay Dunbar. These Golden Girls of Gryffindor weren't going to be easy to beat, but Harry had to do it for Ravenclaw to win. He had to because he planned to take on his brother in the third round.

The six stood ready, facing each other. Harry and Hermione were in front with Luna and Fay on their left while Ginny and Alannis were on the right. With a slight jerk of the head from Professor Snape, the second duel began. Hermione launched the strongest Stunner she could while Ginny fire her signature Bat-Bogey Hex. Harry shielded as both blonde girls countered with Expelliiarmus. Ginny dodged while Fay shielded.

The cheers and shouts were highly distracting. Embolden by John's success, the Gryffindors were cheering louder than ever. John was hurling insults at Harry, hoping to distract him. The Ravenclaw supporters were just as loud. While the Gryffindors were louder, the Ravenclaws, Slytherins, and some Hufflepuffs had numbers on their side.

Luna was using many unusual spells and combinations to take out Ginny while doing a series of acrobatics to avoid Ginny's powerful spells. Alannis was casting spells at high speed to get past Fay's shield, which was incredibility strong. Harry and Hermione were in a repeat of their duel from the beginning of the year, only this time there were so many Stunners between them it looked like they were juggling them.

Suddenly, the duel between Ginny and Luna ended with Ginny falling on her face. Apparently Luna had tied her shoelaces together. A quick Stunner before she could get up a shield and Ginny was out. Fay's face was showing nerves at facing Alannis and Luna together. She tried to fire spells at Luna but didn't get much of an opportunity because of her two attackers.

Luna signaled Alannis something, then left herself wide open for an attack. Fay obviously sensed the trap but attacked anyways. There was a perfect opportunity to take out one of her opponents, why not take it? Fay fired a quick Stunner at Luna, taking her out, while one from Alannis got her. That left only Hermione for Gryffindor.

Both Harry and Hermione were good, but even they can't keep shielding against a bunch of Stunners for very long. Harry redirected two of them into the crowd; one at John, the other at Dumbledore. The headmaster blocked his while the Boy-Who-Lived fell. Many Gryffindors tried to call Harry out on a foul but Snape didn't call it. Hermione tried the same trick, but only one at Alannis, who barely managed to dodge. This gave Harry the time he needed to fire a small Tickling Charm at Hermione's foot. The small and low spell went unseen and hit her right foot.

It took a while for the spell's effect to be noticeable, but soon Hermione Granger was struggling to control her laughter while also managing to move her foot around to shake off the effects and defend herself from Harry's attacks. She couldn't cast the counter-spell because she was too focused on her shield. Eventually it all got to her. Her shield faltered and a Stunner slipped through, taking her out.

As Hermione fell, every Ravenclaw screamed. Harry hadn't failed them and now it down to one last duel. Harry walked over and undid the spells on Hermione. She glared at him and the hand he offered. She stood up on her own but then smiled and shook his hand. Dumbledore took the stage.

"Well, this is exciting. The final match will decide which house wins the Hogwarts Dueling Trophy. Captains, if you would please send up your third group."

"Hold on Professor Dumbledore," said Harry. "I would like to invoke the Tournament rule in which for the third round, both sides are allowed to send up one duelist each."

"Very well Mr. Potter, who does Ravenclaw send up?"

"Myself"

"And would about from Gryffindor?"

"I will" said John.

Excited whispers broke out and Harry could see money change hands over dozens of bets. Dumbledore himself was smiling his hardest.

"Very well. The final match the Tournament will be Ravenclaw Captain Harry Potter versus Gryffindor Captain John Potter. Professor Tonks-Lupin, if you will judge."

Tonks stood from her seat and made her way over to the stage. Once she was ready, the Potter boys bowed and then took their positions. The cheering was at an all-time high though both boys were heavily focused. A quick wave of Tonks' wand and the duel began. John started off with a loud Expelliiarmus. Harry just stood there and waited. At the last second, he dodged and fired a Reducto to John's left. The spell wouldn't have hit him anyways but John yelped and dodged right. Harry attacked again, this time a Stinging Hex to John's right. The spell just grazed his shoulder but that was what Harry wanted. He was going to mess with John a bit before taking him down.

Another Stinging Hex and John seemed to think that Harry wasn't as good as he claimed.

"Ha! You couldn't hit a giant if he was standing in front of you. So much for the 'Great Harry Potter'. I'm surprised you were able to get this far."

Another missed spell, this one at the head.

"Or maybe you're just so scared about taking me on. Come on Harry, we both know who the better duelist is. Why challenge me? Don't you remember our duel this summer? Remember how easily I beat you then?"

John was laughing but Harry wasn't rising to his bait. He wanted Harry angry so that he would make terrible mistakes.

"Poor little brother. So scared of facing his older and much better looking brother. Honestly, I don't see what Susan sees in you."

John was now talking in a baby voice, taunting Harry. He wasn't moving now, just laughing and letting Harry's spells sail right past him. He saw the Stinging Hex coming his towards him but he didn't move. He got a big surprise when it collided with his chest and put him on his back.

"O.K.," he said standing up, "no more Mister Nice Guy."

John let off an assault of Stunners and Disarming spells. Harry didn't even try and shield. At the last second, he moved and dodged each and every single one. John kept attacking and missing Harry. Harry himself never counterattacked. John's form was sloppy and he could easily attack if he wanted, but didn't. It was all a part of his plan.

"Step One was getting John to believe Harry was incompetent. Step Two was making John believe his own skills were inadequate. Step Three, beat the Boy-Who-Lived in a spectacular finish in front of Dumbledore, his parents, and most the higher ranking members of the Ministry of Magic.

John was getting angry. He had been firing some of his best spells for the last five minutes and so far, the only things he managed to hit were the stage floor and the wall behind Harry. He was starting to tire. Harry saw this and moved.

"Expelliiarmus!"

The powerful Disarming Charm blasted John's wand out of his hand. John blinked in surprise. Harry allowed everyone's mind to process his win before conjuring ropes like he did for Daphne. John was tied up in seconds. He struggled to free himself, but the ropes were too tight.

The Ravenclaws roared. Harry had just won his third match that day and it was the Tournament Final. The victory was spectacular. Harry had already participated in two highly difficult duels and still was able to win the third. It was even more impressive because he had finished his second duel before moving onto his third without rest and the third duel was against John Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived himself.

Harry approached the still struggling John. The brothers looked at each other and Harry said softly, "I win."

He then left without freeing his brother from the ropes. As he walked off the stage, many of the Ravenclaw Dueling Club members greeted him with cheers, applause, and hard pats on the back. Luna and Alannis gave him hugs while Marcus, Albert, and Angus were there to shake his hand, though Angus did so reluctantly. Susan ran over and gave Harry a searing kiss that caused many of the students to wolf whistle.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and everyone looked up. He was holding a large silver trophy and a frown. Harry knew that he didn't want to hand over the trophy to him but he couldn't refuse in front of all these witnesses. Dumbledore's plan had backfired. Instead of showing everyone how powerful, skilled, and great John was, it had turned into support for the lesser brother.

"It is my _pleasure_ to award the Dueling Trophy to Ravenclaw House and their Captain Harry Potter."

Very few people noticed how Dumbledore sounded when he said the word 'pleasure' and Harry was one of them. He took to the stage one more time and accepted the trophy. He held it up for all to see and the Ravenclaws cheered. Harry then handed the trophy to a beaming Professor Flitwick.

Harry and Susan were down by the lake again, not talking but just relaxing. With the Tournament now over all that was left was the Quidditch Final next week and then N.E.W.T. exams later on. Susan was leaning against Harry who had his arm wrapped around her waist when someone cleared their throat behind them. Amelia Bones was back.

"I apologize Harry, that we haven't been able to talk. However, now that the Tournament is over, I would like to talk to you, in private."

Harry stood and left Susan by the shore. Madam Bones led him a few feet away before stopping.

"First off Mr. Potter, I want to congratulate you on your wins, you did very well. Auror Tonks and Susan have told me about your desire to become an Auror. From what Auror Tonks had told me and from what I've seen, you'd do very well. Professor Flitwick had also informed me of your classwork and I must say, I can't wait until you join.

Thirdly, Susan had also informed me that Hannah has given you the usual threats of what would happen to you if you broke my niece's heart. As such, I don't think I need to go into the details that I did with Mr. Finnegan but I do think I need to tell you what _I_ would do to you. If you break Susan's heart Mr. Potter, I will break you, you'll wish that you'd never been born. Treat her right and we'll not have any problems."

"Auntie?"

They turned around to see Susan walking towards them.

"Are you done threatening Harry, I want my boyfriend back."

"Nearly Susan. Now, Mr. Potter, normally I would have demonstrate that you can protect my niece, but I think the Tournament already answers that."

"But that doesn't tell much," came a gruff voice.

The three turned again to see Alastor Moody and Tonks walking towards them.

"What do you mean Alastor?"

"Easy Ma'am. Potter has proven he can fight with a wand, but can he fight with his mind?" If he does become an Auror, how do you know some dark wizard won't try and Imperious him. He'd make a very valuable spy or dark warrior."

"And just how do you propose we find out Alastor, hmm?" Tonks asked, though she had a good idea of what Moody was up to. So did Harry and he didn't like where this was going one bit.

"Simple, we place our own Imperious on him and see if he can fight it off."

"But Harry already proved that he can. You put us under the Imperious Curse when you taught here three years ago."

Moody didn't listen to Susan's pleas. Without orders from Madam Bones, Moody raised his wand and Harry felt the bliss of the Imperious Curse. He enjoyed the carefree feeling the Cure gave until he heard Moody's voice, telling him to do cartwheels around the grass. Harry shook his head to clear it and said firmly, 'No'. The Curse lifted and Harry was allowed to think clearly again.

Looking around, Harry saw Susan looking worried, Tonks pleased, Madam Bones impressed, and Moody looking indifferent.

"Good work boy, very good. I look forward to seeing you in the Academy."

Moody then turned around and limped away. Tonks shook her head at her former mentor's actions and then followed after him up to the castle.

"Well Mr. Potter," said Madam Bones, "you never seize to amaze me. First was the Corporal Patronus, then the duels, and now you are able to throw off a spell most adult wizards aren't able to. I look forward to reviewing your progress at the Academy and seeing you in action."

Harry stood in the locker room, his team sat before him. It was the next week, the week of the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Quidditch Match. It was the final match of the season and the Quidditch Cup would be awarded after the game. Slytherin easily had the lead by three hundred points but Harry was planning to beat that.

"O.K. ladies and gentlemen," he began. "This is the last match of the season. Everyone knows their job and if everything goes according to plan, we'll beat Gryffindor and claim the Quidditch Cup, just like the Dueling Tournament."

The team cheered. Ever since the end of the Tournament, Ravenclaw House had been on a high while Gryffindor had been in a slump. Both houses were counting on their Quidditch teams to claim the Cup, despite the score, and take first place in the House Championship from Hufflepuff.

"Alright, let's get out there and win!"

The team cheered and clapped again, the stood as one and grabbed their brooms. They marched out of the locker rooms to loud cheers and boos. Unlike the Tournament, where support went to Ravenclaw, the cheers were pretty evenly divided. However, everyone was cheering for another Potter versus Potter showdown.

John was already standing out on the middle of the field, his team behind him. The Weasleys were standing on either side of him, wearing the exact same smirk he was. The two teams lined up in front of one another and Madam Hooch had the Potters shake hands. They did so, though John's was like a death grip.

At the whistle, the teams flew into the air and Ginny grabbed the Quaffle first. A few seconds later, after some dodging and weaving, she scored and Gryffindor was in the lead with ten points. With this, Harry signaled to his Beaters to begin his plan.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," came Zacharias Smith's voice. "And it looks like Ravenclaw has launched a retaliatory strike and…what the…?"

Harry smirked. Instead of hitting Ginny like everyone expected, the Bludger had hit the Gryffindor Beater protecting her. It didn't take him out of the game, but it did weaken him. Harry came up with his strategy while rereading _Quidditch Throughout the Ages_. There were no rules against the Beaters launching Bludgers at each other, but everyone expected them to attack the other players. Harry planned to take out both Gryffindor Beaters, leaving their team unprotected from the Bludgers.

It took ten minutes for the first Beater to fall. With the score 40-10 for Gryffindor, Rich Cootie fell off his broom. The Gryffindors had caught on to Harry's plan by this point but there was nothing they could do. The other Beater, Jack Slopper, now had to protect the rest of the team and himself against the Bludgers. Three minutes later, with the score 60-30, he fell when the Ravenclaw Beaters double-teamed him. Gryffindor was now completely unprotected.

With their Beaters gone, Gryffindor started to fall. Soon, the game was tied at eighty points each. The Gryffindor Chasers were doing their best, but without the Beaters to protect them, they had to dodge Bludger after Bludger that the Ravenclaws sent their way. This was on top of avoiding the Ravenclaw Chasers. The Gryffindors were good, but the Ravenclaws were now taking the lead with 100-140 in three minutes. Part of their success was also due to Ron's horrible Keeping.

John was horrified at how his team was performing. Only Ginny was able to dodge the Bludgers but she had trouble getting away from the Chasers when she did. At this rate, it wouldn't matter when he caught the Snitch as Ravenclaw would be too high up. He spun as a Bludger came his way. Although Harry had told his Beaters to not take John out, they still sent Bludgers his way to prevent him from looking for the Snitch. The entire crowed watched, they all knew that Harry Potter would beat his older brother again. The question was, by how much and how soon.

That question was answered shortly and the Potter twins shot off for the center of the field, where the Golden Snitch was lazily waiting to be spotted. The moment the boys saw it, it took off at high speed to avoid being caught. Much like the duel, the chase was spectacular, with all the players stopping to watch the Potters battle it out again. The two were neck-in-neck the whole way, twisting and turning at the blink of an eye. The Bludgers ignored them, preferring to go after the stationary targets, so they had a clear field.

John was good, Harry had to admit. He'd been doing this longer and knew exactly what to do, but Harry had talent as well. John's outstretched fingers continued to fumble with the little golden ball but never catching it. Harry stretched out as well. The two boys batted each other's hands, bodies, and brooms back and forth, trying to force their opponent out of the way. One of those bumps worked in Harry's favor.

Harry's hand was forced away just as he was closing around the Snitch. He missed the ball but grabbed a wing instead. Unable to get away, the Snitch stopped and Harry quickly grabbed it with his free left hand, the right holding onto the wing. John overshot him and didn't know what happened. Harry stopped, kissed the Snitch, and held it up high for the entire stadium to see. Loud cheers and chants echoed through the stadium as Ravenclaw won 110-290.

Harry was disappointed as Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup by ten points, they had failed to claim it. However, Harry felt he had a prize just a great. He had now beaten his brother at dueling and Quidditch, the two things he was best at. He had proven that he, Harry Potter, was better than John in many ways this year. That was worth any cup or trophy.

On the ground, Harry's team clapped and patted his back in congratulations, nearly piling on top of him. They then took to the skies again as Draco Malfoy flew out onto the field to claim the Quidditch Cup for Slytherin. Harry and his team clapped with most of the stadium as a saddened Professor Flitwick handed the Cup to Professor Snape, who then handed it to Draco to show off to the whole stadium. The Slytherins cheered loudly, then left the pitch singing a song badly out of key.

Harry gave his team a congratulations speech on winning all their games and told them they flew magnificently that day before dismissing them to the locker rooms again. He was stopped from following by a hand on his shoulder. Behind him was a tall man.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, I'm Duncan Roberts of the Quidditch Leagues of Great Britain and Ireland. You flew wonderfully out there and I was wondering if you were considering a career in professional Quidditch?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Roberts but no. Quidditch is fun for me but I don't want to make it my career. I want to be an Auror though if I ever get tired of that, I'll consider you offer."

"Please consider it now Mr. Potter. Let me say that the League, and maybe even the national team, would love to have you. I know your brother holds an interest in professional Quidditch and that's why I'm here, but I think you are a lot better and have a much better future with us than John. Once again, please think about it. If you change your mind, here's my card."

He then handed Harry a blue card with his name and walked off. Harry starred at the card for a few seconds and then pocketed it. It never hurt of have a back-up or retirement option. After all, he didn't know if he wanted to continue being an Auror after the war ended. He'd have to wait and see.


	12. Chapter 12

**I deeply apologize for the length of time it took me to post this chapter, I've just been so busy I hadn't the time to write. But now I'm back and both this story and my other are all set to be updated once again. I have finals coming up so next week will be the last time I post for a little while but I'll soon be back. A word of warning though, the next couple of chapters (and I think the rest of the story) will be jumping around quite a bit. Large stretches of time will go by very quickly so hold on.**

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><p>Despite the excitement of the Tournament and Quidditch Matches, the teachers of Hogwarts didn't stop giving out homework. It was two weeks until exams and all the teachers were cramming everything they hadn't taught yet into their students' skulls. With the Tournament and Quidditch over, the only thing left to distract Harry from his homework was his girlfriend. Of course, turn-about was fair play and he distracted her just as much as she distracted him.<p>

At long last N.E.W.T.s arrived. Harry thought he was ready but he had based it all on his previous work with O.W.L.s. The Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests lived up to their name. At least one person in every test lost their nerve and had to be removed from the Great Hall. Unfortunately for Harry, John wasn't one of them, though Ron and Hermione were. Ron freaked out five minutes into the Transfiguration Exam while Hermione shocked everyone by bursting into tears near the end of the Arithmancy Exam, saying she was too stupid to finish.

After his last exam, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry join Susan, Neville, and Hannah out by the lake. It was a great achievement to finally be done though a little sad that in about a week they would be leaving Hogwarts forever. We'll all of them except Neville.

He told them that Professor Sprout pulled him aside after the Herbology Exam and asked him if he would consider staying to assist her in teaching and then take over after a few years. Every the boy with the green thumb, he accepted. Come next September he would be Professor Longbottom.

While Hannah was squealing over her boyfriend's success, Susan leaned up against Harry. They were laying under a large tree, enjoying the shade provided. Harry closed his eyes as Susan sighed and thought _Nothing could spoil this moment_. He was wrong.

"Hey! Harry!"

Opening his eyes, Harry saw John and Ron walking over to them, wands out.

"And what do you want, brother?"

"I want a rematch. A fair duel where you can't cheat."

"So you're saying that I cheated during the Tournament. I cheated in an official duel, watched by dozens of people, including the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Minister for Magic?"

"Yeah, you and Tonks! She's always liked you best, she allowed you to cheat so that you could win."

Harry sighed and stood up. "I didn't cheat, but I accept your challenge anyways, if only to prove it."

The two Potters walked to an open space of grass and stood a few feet apart. Susan, Hannah, Neville, and Ron stood just off to the side, Ron standing a little too close to Susan than Harry would've liked. Before Harry could call him off, John started the duel with a quick Stunner.

Harry easily dodged and fired one of his own back. John blocked it and fired a Disarmer. Again Harry dodged and summoned some nearby branches to attack John. While he was busy with those, Harry used some transfiguration to turn a bunch of grass into a rope and carefully wined it around John's ankle.

John finished with the branches and fired two Stunners at Harry. He used his shield to block them both and, with a flick of the wrist, brought the grass rope of life. It tightened around his ankle and pulled, tripping John and making him land of his face. He also dropped his wand and it landed inches from John's hands. He tried to crawl over to it but Harry wouldn't allow it. Another wave of his wand and the rope dragged John a couple inches away so that his wand was out of reach.

Harry walked over to his brother, his own wand raised to finish the duel. John took one look at Harry, then shouted over his shoulder "Now Ron!"

Harry turned and before anyone could blink, Ron had one arm wrapped around Susan and the other held his wand tip at her neck. Harry raised his wand to curse Ron but the red head moved so that he was standing behind Susan. Hannah and Neville also moved but Ron turned so that they could see what was going on. Again, Harry aimed but felt something and turned to the side and back. An orange spell zoomed past him and John was on his feet again, wand pointed straight at Harry.

"Well what's it going to be Harry? Surrender the duel or Ron hurts your little girlfriend."

"This is cheating John."

"An eye for an eye Harry, you cheated in our last duel so I get to cheat this time. I won't be seen as the lesser brother. We both know that I'm better and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove it."

"Just like a Slytherin, victory at any cost."

"Don't compare me to those filthy Death Eater wanna-bes! I'm better, I'm John Potter, I'm the Boy-Who-Lived!"

John looked livid, his eyes were on fire and his wand was shaking. Harry then turned towards Ron.

"You don't want to do this Weasley, word of this will get out. Think about what will happen when everyone hears you helped the Boy-Who-Lived cheat. What will your parents think, I don't think they'd be too happy. And what about Susan's aunt, Amelia Bones? What do you think she'll do to your father?"

Ron's eyes went wide. "She…she wouldn't dare fire him, would she?" He wand slackened and that was all Harry needed. But before he could move, Susan took care of him instead.

All of Harry's tutoring sessions seemed to help. She played the helpless damsel and when Ron's grip slackened, she brought her right foot back and up, straight into Ron's groin. She then threw him off and decked him. John started to shout out a spell, his wand pointed towards Susan but Harry moved too fast.

"Levicorpus!"

John was suddenly in the air, hanging by his ankles. His wand was lying on the ground below his head.

"How dare you attack my girlfriend! How dare you attack Susan! How dare you use trickery to try and win a duel! Professor Snape was right about you; you're arrogant and pig-headed, and believe yourself above the rules simply because you think you're the Boy-Who-Lived. Maybe I should dump you in the Lake, that might wash away your ego."

"MR. POTTER!"

Everyone turned. Albus Dumbledore was walking towards them.

"What do you think you are doing Mr. Potter? Ten points from Ravenclaw for cursing another student."

"But Professor, we were having a duel."

"He was going to dump me in the Lake Professor!"

"Doesn't look like much of a duel to me, and another ten points for threatening a student."

"But it's true Professor Dumbledore" said Susan. "They were having a duel, and John had Ron attack me to as to distract Harry." Neville and Hannah nodded, agreeing with Susan.

"Ms. Bones, I would've thought better of you. Ten points for lying to me and for besmirching the name of two good students. You Mr. Potter have a detention with Professor McGonagall tonight. Now, let your brother down or it will be fifty points and a week's worth of detention."

Harry did let John down, none too gently either, and stormed off. He had just reached the doors to the castle when Susan caught up with him.

"Hey, I wanted to thank-you for what you did back there."

"It was nothing." Harry said bitterly. Susan looked a little hurt and Harry regretted the way he snapped at her. He gave her a quick kiss and said, "I'm sorry, it's just, I'm so angry at my brother for getting away with everything while I'm blamed for it all."

Susan patted his arm and gave him a peck on the cheek. They walked slowly through the halls and Harry could see Susan had something on her mind as she was biting her lip.

"What did you mean back there when you said, 'just because you think you're the Boy-Who-Lived'?"

Harry stopped and realized what he just said. Susan stopped too and stared at Harry, waiting for an answer. But how could he explain that Death had told him the truth when John killed him over the summer. That he had also explained that she was his soul mate. Susan would think him crazy and dump him.

"Well," he said slowly, thinking carefully, "sometimes I get the feeling that _I'm_ really the Boy-Who-Lived. I mean, no one really knows what happened that night. It could've been me or it could've been John, who knows. I know you don't believe me, but all those _adventures_ John's had over the years have really been me. From my point of view, why can't I be the Boy-Who-Lived?"

Susan did not answer. She just starred at Harry like she was thinking.

At eight, Harry arrived at the Transfiguration classroom for his detention. Professor McGonagall was already there, grading exams.

"I heard what happened, Mr. Potter. While I do not agree with dumping your brother into the Lake, I do agree his ego has gotten a little too big, much bigger than your father's was when he was at school here. Tonight I'll have you reorganize and catalog the Transfiguration materials. This way I can accomplish that and not have to worry about it over the summer. You can start with the first year materials over there."

The two worked in mostly silence for two hours. Carefully, Harry checked and double checked the inventory of materials and made notes as to what McGonagall had and didn't have. Sometimes McGonagall asked Harry Transfiguration questions from the various years, quizzing him to see what he remembered from her earlier classes.

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><p>When the end of the year came, Harry was deeply surprised. Voldemort had been quiet lately and his usual End-of-the-School-Year Attack didn't happen. Harry supposed he was recouping his earlier losses and was waiting for a handful of seventh years to actually graduate before they joined him.<p>

On the last day of term there was a small graduation ceremony. The families and a few friends of the graduating class arrived at Hogwarts where the students were called up to receive their diploma. N.E.W.T. scores would be sent out in a few weeks but Harry and his classmates were officially done. Speeches by the Head Boy and Girl followed, both being rather boring Harry thought. When Hermione finished her twelve minute speech on high achievement those still awake clapped politely and it was over.

The next morning, Harry and his friends bored the Hogwarts Express for the last time. Friends rushed to say good-bye to each other and Luna actually burst out into tears as she hugged Harry. The ride with Susan, Hannah, and Neville was quiet as nobody had anything to say. Before Harry realized it, they were pulling into Kings Cross Station. He shook Neville's hand, glad to have befriended him this year while also giving Hannah a hug. He kissed Susan good-bye, promising to give her his new address as soon as possible and promising to remember their lunch date in two days.

Remus was waiting for Harry a little ways away from his parents. John was going to continue living at Potter Manor while Harry was only going to spend one more night there, then he was moving into his flat. Remus was going to show it to him before they returned to Potter Manor.

The two Apparated to Harry's new flat. It was located in the middle of London, only a block from the Ministry of Magic's main entrance. It was good sized with a kitchen/living area and two bedrooms. Harry thought it was very cozy, and Remus agreed. He said that he and Tonks were looking into buying one like it, maybe nearby, for themselves. They were currently living at Tonk's parent's house.

When Remus and Harry returned to Potter Manor, it was to the middle of a large party. Lily and James were celebrating John's graduation like it was the end of the war. The Weasleys were there as well so there was a lot loud bangs and noises. Harry noticed the sign that said _CONGRADULATIONS JOHN POTTER_. His parents had once again forgotten about him. No matter, he was leaving tomorrow and never coming back.

* * *

><p>The trunk made a loud banging sound as it fell down the stairs and Harry cursed. It was eleven in the morning and Harry was just finalizing moving all his things. Everything he wanted in his new flat was now downstairs waiting for Harry to double check it all. The last thing he was moving was his trunk and his mother's cat Mittens had gotten in his way. True to the superstition of black cats crossing your path, Harry lost concentration and the trunk he was levitating fell and banged all the way down the stairs. Luckily, the rest of Harry's family was still asleep from drinking too much firewhiskey last night.<p>

"Harry?" Well, almost everyone. It was his mother, wrapping a robe around herself. "What are you doing up so early, it's only…eleven! How did it get so late?"

"You guys drank a lot of firewhiskey last night. I'm actually surprised that Ginny isn't asleep in John's room right now."

Lily Potter, being the women she was. Immediately went to check her eldest son's room to really make sure his girlfriend didn't spend the night. Harry just grumbled and walked down to get his trunk. Once it joined the rest of his things, Harry shrunk them all so they could fit in his pocket. As he was doing so, he heard a scream from upstairs. Apparently Ginny Weasley did stay the night. Harry thought it was best to get out of there as quickly as possible and Apparated away.

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><p>A couple of weeks later Harry was standing in the office of Gawain Robards, Head of Auror Office. He had submitted his application to join the Auror Corps a couple of days ago and had received work this morning that they wished to speak to him. Harry arrived promptly, excited, but now he was nervous, Robards was not smiling.<p>

"Mr. Potter we've gone over your file extensively, please let us know if anything is incorrect. You were born on the thirty-first of July in 1980?"

A nod.

"You began your education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991 and were sorted in Ravenclaw?"

Another nod.

"Since then you've achieved high marks in all subjects except History of Magic in which you achieved above average results. In your third year you took Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. Your O.W.L. results Outstandings in all subjects except History and Muggle Studies in which you achieved Exceeds Expectations."

Harry nodded again. Two days after moving into his new flat, Harry arrived at the Ministry of Magic to take the Muggle Studies O.W.L. The results arrived with his N.E.W.T. scores. Although Harry wasn't pleased he was proud of his accomplishments.

"Your N.E.W.T. scores a very good, O's on everything except for Arithmancy and Runes, which you got E's on. We've also done a thorough background check and talked with your parents and teachers, including Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore as well as Mr. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. I am just about ready to pass judgment Mr. Potter but first I want some questions answered. First, why do you want to be an Auror in the first place?"

"Simple sir, I want to fight. I want to help in the fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

Robards flinched at the name but made a few notes on Harry's file. "Second, what skills do you think you have that could help you in being an Auror?"

"I am familiar with various dueling strategies having led the Ravenclaw Dueling Team for four years and helping them win the Hogwarts Dueling Tournament this past year. That and my being Quidditch Captain this past year as provided me with a good deal of leadership ability. I am also familiar with a handful of Dark Arts and artifacts and have previously met and dueled some Death Eaters previously. Also sir, I'm…I'm a Parselmouth."

Robards's quill, which had been taking notes throughout Harry's little speech, snapped and Robards himself looked up. Harry had been hiding this particular talent form everyone except Luna ever since he found out about it in his second year. He did this because most of the wizarding world feared Parselmouths, Voldemort in particular, and believed the talent to be Dark. Only Luna thought differently and sometimes had him translate what a snake she found in her garden was saying.

"You are? How long have you know?"

"Since my second year sir. We held a Dueling Club meeting during that time and someone summoned a snake. It was angry and wanted to attack but I calmed it down without realizing what I was doing. Since then I have only spoken it a handful of times."

"I…see." Robards wrote some more. "Anything else to add?"

"No sir."

Robards wrote some more things down on Harry's file and then pull blank sheet of parchment towards him. He wrote something on it Harry couldn't see and then sealed it.

"Take this to Albert Savage's Office. It's just down the hall and second door on the right." And with that Harry was dismissed.

The Auror Office was relatively empty, most of the Aurors were out searching for Voldemort and his Death Eaters or protecting high profile targets. Harry found Savage's office with little difficultly. He knocked and then entered. Savage was seating at his desk going over paperwork.

"Yes?" he said. Harry handed the parchment to him.

"Robards said to give this to you."

Savage opened the seal and read what was inside. He then leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed and hummed. Harry was really nervous now, could something Dumbledore have said denied him the spot, or could his Parseltongue ability?

After a couple of minutes Savage opened his eyes. He dug in his desk for a couple of second before pulling out another piece of parchment. He wrote on it for a while before folding it and putting it in his desk. He then opened another drawer and pulled out a bronze badge.

"Welcome to the Auror Corps Mr. Potter."

Smiling, Harry looked at the badge he had been given. It was a simple six-star badge with a large A on the front.

"There are four ranks within the Corps, Trainee Auror, Junior Auror, Full Auror, and Senior Auror. That bronze badge you hold identifies you as a Trainee. You will wear that badge on your robes at all times while you are on duty. As a Trainee you are answerable to all Aurors here, most importantly myself and your Training Auror. As a Trainee you will not have the opportunity select assignments and your employment can be terminated at any time without reason.

"You will be assigned a Training Auror who is either a Full or Senior Auror. They will teach you all the necessary skills and rules. You are under their complete command, anything they say goes. You will also be assigned a Training Partner who is another Trainee. You will work together throughout your training, if one of you fails you both fail. If, at the end of your training, your Trainer believes you are worthy, you will be subject to the Gauntlet. If you pass you will be promoted to Junior Auror. Report at eight-thirty tomorrow morning for your first day. You are dismissed Mr. Potter."

Harry held in his cheers until he got back to his flat. Once he did, he couldn't help but scream, startling Hedwig. He then quickly got to work writing letters to Sirius, Remus, Luna, and Susan about his acceptance. Hedwig was pleased with the work as she had done nothing but eat and sleep since Harry graduated.

The next morning Harry felt very official pinning his new badge to his black robes. Aurors traditionally wore red robes to identify themselves but as a Trainee, Harry was issued any. He arrived at the Ministry at eight-twenty and quickly made his way to Savage's office. The man was waiting along with Fay Dunbar, apparently she also made it into the Auror Corps.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, right on time, good. This is Fay Dunbar, Miss Dunbar, Harry Potter. As I told you yesterday Mr. Potter, each Trainee is assigned a partner for the duration of their training. You two will be working together as you are the only applicants that passed."

At that moment there was a knock on the door and Tonks appeared.

"Wotcher Harry. You wanted to see me Savage?"

"Yes, Nymphadora, come in."

Tonks did so, scowling at her first name.

"You haven't done much since your return from Hogwarts Nymphadora. You are back on active duty but as you just had a baby only a few months ago I decided your job will be to instruct these two. I believe you know them as you taught them last year? Good, you are all dismissed."

Fay and Harry followed Tonks out of the office and down a hall. They reached a cubicle that had pictures of Teddy, Remus, and Tonks's parents so this had to be her cubicle. She quickly wrote something on a piece of parchment, tapped it with her wand, where it folded itself into a paper airplane and flew off. Tonks then led them a short ways away to a larger cubicle. It was empty but had two chair.

"Sit. Each Auror in the Office gets their own cubicle. As you two are Trainees you don't get a very big one and have to share. The cubicles get bigger as you're promoted with the higher ups getting their own office. You are allowed to decorate you cubicle as you like.

"Now, I've never had a Trainee before so bear with me. I may have been polite at Hogwarts but here I'm going to work you until it hurts. Our numbers are small due to the war and we need more people to replace those we've lost. Your training normally takes about three years but because we're short staffed it'll be sped up a bit.

"I trained under Alastor Moody himself so that's how I'm going to train you. Every morning you'll arrive her at eight sharp and run laps in the training complex over there. Then you'll work for an hour on dueling. I don't care how tired you get or what injuries you sustain you'll work the full hour. Another hour-and-a-half will be devoted to special exercises that'll get you in shape. After that, the real fun begins."

The smile on Tonks's face told Harry she meant business. She then snapped at them to get to work. Harry and Fay ran to the training complex. It was about half the size of a Quidditch Pitch and was full of equipment meant to keep the Aurors in tip-top shape. They started to remove their cloaks to run when Tonks yelled at them not too. Harry quickly saw why, the cloak weighed them down and slowed their efforts. Harry was sweating before the first lap was finished and Tonks was yelling at him he still had twenty more to go.

Once he was finish, Harry barely had a chance to rest before Tonks had him and Fay start dueling. Harry could barely stand but Tonks was relentless. Every time either he or Fay slacked they were hit with a strong Stinging Hex. After the sixth time Harry made the mistake of shielding against it which forced him and Fay to run another ten laps. By the time they brakes for lunch, dead tired didn't even begin to describe how Harry was feeling.

"This is nothing you two" Tonks told them as they ate, "when Moody was here he had ever Auror do twice what you're doing in half the time. I suggest a light breakfast in the mornings and a lot of sleep at night. You'll thank me for that, believe it."

"Auror Tonks, what are you doing, I need you on my team pronto."

A tall, muscular Auror was walking towards them and he looked angry.

"Can't Proudfoot, I'm now the happy Trainer of these two Newbies."

Tonks happily pointed at Harry and Fay. He got the feeling Tonks liked rubbing it in Proudfoot's face. One the Auror left Tonks leaned down to whisper to them both.

"Personally, I'm happy Savage assigned me to you two. If he hadn't I'd probably be working with Proudfoot right about now and he's a madman."

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><p>Harry silently thanked Merlin that only part of an Auror's training was physical exercise. Tonks had then studying heavily about Dark Arts detection, removal, criminal investigations, defense, and a whole host of other things Aurors needed to know. It was like taking Charms, Defense, Transfiguration, Potions, and Ancient Runes all at the same time with lecture and the professor asking you questions. They were forced to remember everything they were taught and if they missed one detail, they had to go over it again.<p>

Tonks's advice about breakfast and sleep were of a great help. Everyone morning Harry and Fay were worked until they couldn't move and then some. It was gulling but at least they weren't throwing up their breakfast after every session.

Soon, he and Fay got into a rhythm and their effort was showing. Harry was excelling at the physical work, running faster and longer than Fay and his spell-work and casting was faster and stronger. Fay on the other hand did better on the practical side of the training. She could spot a flaw in a report within seconds and was much better at interrogation techniques than Harry was. They started helping each other with the areas the other couldn't get and became a good team.

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><p><strong>I think some people, myself included at one point, might have forgotten that not only is this a Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived fic, but is also what I call a Death fic, where Harry dies too many times and goes back. Death will reappear and play an important role in the story so stay turned. Please read and review!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**OK, while I like reviews pointing out some of my mistakes, I don't appreciate reviews that pinpoint every single little grammar or spelling mistake I made. Yes, I know I have some of them but that can't be helped. Also, those kings of reviews are just plain a waste of time, both writing and reading, and I read every review. Also, I've seen fics where the grammar and spelling make the story hard to read or follow. So next time, if you find a major mistake, please point it out but don't go out of your way to use an entire review to tell me what mistake I made and how to correct it, thank-you.**

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><p>Harry was working on the dummy field when it happened. He had been training for three months and Tonks was starting to give them leeway on some parts of their training. In their free time, Harry and Fay worked on their areas of specialty so Harry had been spending more and more time in the complex practicing defense and spells, many times staying an hour after regular hours.<p>

What he was currently doing was practicing with four training dummies set to the highest setting. They were currently programmed to avoid his spells at all costs and attack when his guard was down. So far he had only gotten one hit while he was hit four times. He was pushing himself to beat the record set by Moody of ten dummies with seven hits on each without a scratch for himself. It was only due to his advanced training that he felt the spell coming his way.

Harry quickly ducked and the spell flew over his head. He rolled away from his spot and used his momentum to bring himself up and fired a spell at the same time. It was only absorbed by the shield Mad-Eye Moody had.

"Good Potter, very good, you've improved I see."

"Thank-you sir." He had to quickly turn as Moody fired another spell. This one missed his head by an inch.

"But you still have much to learn boy. I'm glad old Tonks has been training you. Anyone else would've gone easy on you but not her. You'll go far in the Corps Potter, but you need to focus, I could've gotten closer and you would've had a harder time dodging my spell or getting a shield up in time."

Harry felt another spell from behind him and ducked. The training dummies were still active and had seen his chat with Moody as a lowered guard.

"Keep aware of your surroundings, boy! Constant vigilance! You are surrounded and outnumbered, the enemy won't go easy on you. It won't be training dummies you're up against, it'll be real live Death Eaters who'd kill yah as soon as look at yah. Remember, they won't use Stunners or Disarming spells, they'll use Unforgivables."

As Moody talked Harry continued fighting the dummies. With his attention back on them they began to move around again.

"You're high up on the Death Eater's hit list Potter due to your brother's position. They'll use you to get to him."

"Like he'd help me anyways." Harry muttered as the blasted a dummy away.

"None the less, you must keep up your focus and training. Use your surroundings, the enemy, use the enemy's numbers to your advantage. Exploit their weakness and cut down their strength. Never give them an advantage."

Moody added his own spells to the mix and soon Harry was forced to keep moving to avoid his spells.

"Think on your feet boy! A duel is like a game of chess, if you can plan three moves ahead you'll have it won before it starts. Expect the unexpected, use the unorthodox."

Harry jumped to avoid a spell and banished a dummy Moody's way. The old Auror threw it aside but had one of Harry's Piercing Hexes to deal with.

"Good! Protect your body, limbs can be replaced but a heart cannot! Work to keep moving while forcing the enemy to stay put! Make them pay for every inch and you'll be victorious! You're holding you wand too tight!"

Harry removed the head of the last dummy and suddenly found his wand gone. Moody was holding it pleasurably in his other hand.

"Now too lightly. Yes, you've improved Potter, much better than at that pathetic Tournament at Hogwarts. I now believe you could spar against Voldemort's top Death Eaters. But don't get overconfident, believe too much in your own abilities and you'll fall just as easy."

He held out Harry's wand but did not let him take it.

"I want you here at the end of every day, working to improve. Increase the number of dummies each day until you get twenty, then increase their skill level until you can't beat them, no matter what you do. Then I'll test you again and we'll see just how well you stand against the best of the Aurors. I look forward to doing this again."

At last Moody allowed Harry to take his wand. Moody eyed him carefully and then turned. As soon as he was gone from the complex Harry collapsed. What Moody had put him through was the toughest work out he'd done yet. He sat there, rest for a bit before he stood and left the Office.

The next day, when Harry came into the office, he had no less than eight Stinging Hexes thrown his way. Rubbing his elbow, Harry sat in his chair and growled, "What did I do to piss everyone off so bad?"

Fay turned in her chair to look at him. "Sorry Harry, it's Moody's orders. All the Aurors are to jinx or hex you when they see you. It's part of your 'training'; you are to dodge or shield against any spell they throw your way and you aren't allowed to retaliate. I'm immune because I'm your partner, even Tonks has to do it."

"And did Moody say why he wanted everyone to hex me?" Harry asked as he leaned forward to avoid another spell.

"Said it was a part of a special regiment he was having you go through, said you had the potential to be one of the best but only if you worked hard for it."

"You mean become as paranoid as him."

Fay just shrugged. "Call what you will. I wouldn't get to comfy though, I get to start hexing you in about two months and I can't wait. Of course, he'll probably have me go through the same thing."

"Good, cause I'm already planning pay-back."

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><p>On a dreary old street in London a house stood invisible. Those that unknowingly lived next to and around it had long accepted the mistake in numbering that put Number Eleven Grimmauld Place next to Number Thirteen. Number Twelve stood invisible because of enchantments put on it by its pervious inhabitants, the Ancient and Noble Black Family of the Wizarding World. Now the Black Family was extinct except for one man who never lived in the old house. Instead he gave it to his old headmaster to use as headquarters to his vigilantly group the Order of the Phoenix.<p>

The Order was currently meeting inside Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Its leader, Albus Dumbledore, sat at the head of the kitchen table in the basement of the house. Seated down the table was the rest of the Order, or at least those who could make it. The Order's membership had taken large hits since its first creation. Very few of the original Order remained after the First War and even less now with the Second War in full swing.

This concerned Dumbledore as his group was often on the front lines against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Although they gained a few more members after the graduation of John Potter, even the added forces of the Boy-Who-Lived and his best friends wasn't enough. With more and more members of the Ministry for Magic falling to Voldemort and the Auror ranks at an all-time low, Dumbledore believed that it could only be a matter of time until his former pupil took control.

"I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order. Severus, what news of the Dark Lord.?"

The Order's spy within Voldemort's ranks stood and all eyes turned towards him.

"The Dark Lord had decided that the time to resume his offensive has come now that John Potter has graduated. With the Boy-Who-Lived now out in the open he fears that hope will grow in the population that Potter will put an end to his reign. He is also pleased with break as his numbers have grown.

"While he rested he gathered more foreign wizards to his cause and the remaining giants have join him. The Dementors are ready and he will soon send them out to strike fear in all. I have also received word that Fenrir Greyback has gathered more werewolves to Voldemort's side. With the addition of a handful of graduating students from Hogwarts, the Dark Lord's army is at its strongest since his return."

Snape sat down and various members of the Order became to talk amongst themselves. Many of them sounded worried. Dumbledore himself was one of them. Every day Voldemort's army grew while the Order and Ministry took more and more loses. Even just this month the Order had lost six members. They needed more people.

"I now ask the group to consider any who would be willing to join us, we need more people. I ask our friends from the Auror's Office if any promising recruits have shown themselves."

"There is one Albus," said Alastor Moody. The retired Auror returned to active duty following the return of Voldemort. His experience in the last war had kept the Corps and Order strong. "I recently came across the most promising recruit I have ever seen, even more promising than you Nymphadora."

"Don't call me that Alastor!" said the pink-hair Auror.

"Who Alastor, who is this promising student?"

"I'm actually surprised you didn't recruit him straight out of Hogwarts Albus, he'd be very valuable to our cause. I'm talking about Harry Potter of course."

"HIM?" yelled John Potter. "My brother? He's nothing but useless."

"His better than you think boy. I've seen him at work and I believe the boy could go toe-to-toe with some of Voldemort's best Death Eaters. Maybe even come out on top. Why didn't you recruit him Nymphadora?"

Tonks blushed at everyone focused on her. "He didn't seem interested, that's all."

"I can't believe you're considering allowing that idiot to be a part of this group," said Ron Weasley, best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived. He was there despite his mother's protests. "I mean, John is way better at dueling than him, I bet he doesn't even have half of his skills."

"Ronald" came the reply of the boy's girlfriend, "Harry beat John in the Tournament. He's highly skilled and an Auror, I'm sure he'd be a great addition to the Order."

"He only beat John because he cheated, I saw it. Nobody can beat John, he's the Boy-Who-Lived, remember?"

"No one is unbeatable Ron, and I didn't see any cheating. You and John need to get over the loss and learn from it, it makes you a better dueler and person."

"He actually made it in?" Dumbledore asked, thinking back to when the Auror Office contacted him about Harry. He told the Office that Harry was an unremarkable student with below average skill. The boy didn't possess the temperament or skill necessary to pass the background checks. He would have to look over Harry's file one more time.

"Of course he made it in Albus, has some of the highest marks we've seen in a raw recruit in a long time. Nearly straight O's for both O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and even his E scores were high. He duels with the skill of a Senior Auror and its growing every day. Once he finishes basic training he'll cut down Death Eaters left, right, and center, just you wait."

"Headmaster, I too must admit Potter's skills." The whole Order went quiet. Snape praising a Potter, the world must be coming to an end. "Young Mr. Malfoy had told the Dark Lord of the boy's skills and he's become very interested. Given his hatred of his brother I believe he'll be approached very soon."

"We cannot allow that to happen. Kingsley, Alastor, we need to prevent young Mr. Potter from joining Voldemort."

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><p>Harry stood in his flat looking in the mirror. He was very nervous. Tonight was a very important date with Susan and he wanted everything to go perfectly. It was her birthday and Harry wanted to take their relationship to the next level, so he had planned everything out weeks in advance.<p>

They were going to meet at a fancy restaurant a few blocks away. It was muggle so there was little fear and it also meant they could dress up a bit. After dinner they were going to go to the theater as Harry had gotten tickets to production of _Les Miserables_ that was in town. He knew nothing about the muggle musical but he heard good things about it.

After one more failed attempt to flatten his hair, Harry gave up and decided it was time to go. He was already threatening to run late as Savage had kept him late working on paperwork that had somehow begun piling up. That was the one thing he hated about being an Auror, the paperwork. There was paperwork for their schedule, paperwork for their training, paperwork for investigations. He swore there was even paperwork for filling out paperwork.

His job as an Auror was keeping him busy, just like Susan's job. He had started her Healer training a couple weeks after Harry started his Auror training. Unlike his training, Susan's was more hands-on due to the war. Everyday more people were brought in from Death Eater attacks or failed attempts to ward their houses. Both of them had been kept busy for months but with the lull in the fighting Susan had been even more time to herself. This was the first night they both had off together and it was lucky that it was for Susan's birthday.

Harry slipped his wand in a holster on his wrist under his jacket sleeve and made to leave when he saw someone standing across the street. Normally Harry wouldn't pay any attention to it but Moody's lessons were starting to get to him.

Walking to the window, Harry looked out. It was too dark to make the person out but there was no mistaking it, he or she was wearing robes. Harry turned off the light to his bedroom and drew his wand. Whether Death Eater or not, Harry wanted to be ready for whatever ambush they had planned. Harry's caution paid off, the moment he stepped out of his bedroom he ducked as a spell flew over him. A half-dozen figure stood before him, wands drawn.

It was too dark to see who they were but Harry was sure that they were Death Eaters. He didn't know how they got past the security wards he set up around his flat without him detecting but he promised to keep at least one alive to find out. They would not be breaking into his flat again.

"Stun him quickly and let's get out of here before the Ministry arrives!" said the deep voice of whom Harry assumed was the leader.

As an Auror, even as a Trainee, Harry had special detectors in his flat that detected extra bouts of magic. If a certain level was breached an alarm would go off in the Ministry, alerting someone that he was under attack. If Harry couldn't beat them back, he only had to hold off long enough for someone to get the alert and send back-up.

He had already picked his target, the leader, and fired a spell. The leader was good and dodged quickly before returning fire with a Stunner. So they wanted him alive, Harry didn't know if that was good or bad but it did mean one thing, he didn't have to worry about Killing Curses. It also meant Harry had the advantage as he was under no restrictions to not kill. The others were already moving, hoping to surround Harry. Moody's lessons came back to him and several plans began to form.

Harry allowed them to surround him as he focused on the leader, firing spell after spell. When one of his attackers from behind thought he had an opening, he fired. Harry ducked and stunned that attacker before he could blink. One of his partners fell to the friendly fire so that was two attackers down. Not wanting to keep his back exposed to the leader, Harry moved and turned, firing as he went. A third attacker went down, their shield overpowered by Harry's spell.

One of the attackers brought Harry's furniture to life to attack him. He responded with a Cutting Curse. The attacker dodged but was still cut on the right arm below the elbow, dripping blood everywhere from a long cut. The couch flew at him, attempting to pin him to the wall. Harry jumped and leapt off the back to slam into the leader. The leader's wand went flying and Harry pointed his wand to finish him when another attacker sent a series of unknown spells at him which caused Harry to flee.

Harry cut down the table that was sent his way and sent the knives and forks back to the person who banished them towards Harry. The attacker with the unusual spells didn't let up and kept Harry on the defensive. He moved continuously as he didn't know what would happen if one of those spells hit his shield. He kept the attacker moving as well until just the right moment. When that moment came, Harry summoned the remain of the table just behind his leg. The attacker fell and crack told Harry he hit his head. He wouldn't be getting back up.

The leader was next. Out of them all, he was the most skilled. Harry knew that the leader's skill was possible higher than his own and that he stood a good chance of being beaten by him. Harry remembered another of Moody's lessons, 'If you go down, make sure you take as many of them as you can with you'. If need be, Harry intended to do just that.

Harry did his best to force the leader back while getting as close as he could to him. When he passed by a lamp, he kicked it towards him while also banishing a chair at him. The leader cut them both down and blocked a spell only to see Harry running straight at him. He moved but Harry wouldn't let him get away and punched him hard in the face. He heard something break and felt liquid cover his hand.

The leader staggered backwards, clutching his bloody face and Harry attacked again. He was expecting Harry's fist and blocked it with his palm but didn't see Harry bring his foot up. His left foot smashed between the man's legs while the right followed up with a heavy kick. The force of the kick sent the leader straight into the living room window and out it. With his flat several floors up he believed the man dead but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

Harry looked out the broken window but it was too dark to see any body on the ground. Harry turned back and examined his quiet flat. None of the attackers were moving so Harry assumed they were down. He examined the damage and sighed. It was going to take some work to fix most of it and what couldn't be fixed would cost a lot to replace. Harry took one look at the four attacker's bodies and, wait a minute.

Harry looked around carefully, he thought there were six attackers. He counted one, two, three, four bodies. Where was the sixth? He carefully searched through the debris but didn't find anything. Harry was on high alert. Did the last one escape or was he still here, hidden? Too late Harry felt the spell coming towards him. He turned to see a red light slam into him and his world turned black.

Outside, the figure Harry observed from his bedroom window watched the fight with interest. He briefly considered joining the Trainee Auror but shot that down quickly, he might think him a threat and attack. Besides, the young man was doing fine on his own. He watched as the Auror defeated the group one by one. He considered the Trainee victorious until a red flash proved otherwise. The sixth attacker appeared, revived his fellows and disappeared with Harry Potter. He needed to report this.


	14. Chapter 14

**With my final exams finished, I thought I'd celebrate by giving you all the next chapter. If I feel really happy I may post the next one in a couple of days. Read and review.**

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><p>The first thing Harry felt was the familiar feelings of a nasty headache one got after being Stunned. The second thing he felt was that he was lying on a semi-comfortable bed while someone dabbed a wet towel against his injuries, many of which Harry didn't realized he had. Then everything came back to Harry and he remembered how a group of wizards had ambushed him in his flat. As they were healing him Harry assumed that it wasn't Death Eaters like he originally thought, but he had to make sure.<p>

He laid there while the unknown person healed him. Using his senses of touch, smell and hearing, as well as random guess work, Harry worked out the rough idea as to where the person healing him was. Judging from the way their hands felt, it was a woman and from the lack of sounds, they were alone. Faintly he could hear voices outside what he thought was his cell but they were too muffled to make out.

When his nurse leaned over so they were right above Harry, he made his move. He opened his eyes, sat up, rolled off the bed, and grabbed the person's throat in the same time it took someone to blink. Hermione Granger, for that was who was caring for him, let out a sharp, short squeal in surprise before she was silenced by Harry's hand closing around her throat. The noise was enough to alert the people outside as the next second the door burst open and Dumbledore, Moody, Mr. Weasley, James Potter, and Tonks entered, wands raised.

In that brief amount of time, Harry knew where he was and a quick look around confirmed it. He was in one of the many bedrooms at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. At least, that's what Harry thought, he couldn't be sure it wasn't a Death Eater trap.

But the Death Eaters wouldn't go through with something this elaborate, would they? They would never dress up as a 'mudblood' and Dumbledore. Or maybe that's what they were expecting Harry to believe and did it anyway to throw him off. Or maybe this was real and he really was at Headquarters. Or maybe, ah, he was starting to become as paranoid as Moody. That left only one option.

"Moody, what was the trick you used to beat me when we last had our little dueling sessions. Answer wrong and I'll crush her windpipe."

Harry could see the fear in Granger's eyes at the threat as well as the concern Tonks had on her face.

"Now Harry," said Dumbledore, stepping forward, "there's no need for that. You are quite safe here, I assure you."

"Safe is a matter of perspective sir, and take one more step and I will kill her."

That stopped Dumbledore. His eyes flicked from Harry to his brightest student. He raised his wand to release her but Harry made a show of tightening his grip.

"Choose wisely Dumbledore, do you really want to risk her life?"

Moody chuckled. "Very good boy, very good, don't trust anyone until you have all the necessary information. And to answer your question, I untied your shoe laces and stuck them to the ground so you'd trip."

Harry nodded, that was the answer. He released Granger, who took a step back, coughing and gasping for breath. She rubbed her neck and glared at Harry but he just ignored her and focused on Dumbledore.

"Any reason why your people attacked me in my own flat?"

"Harry, they were just defending themselves. Had you not fought back nothing would've happened."

"Yeah right, not fight back. In case you've forgotten, we're in war here. I see a group of strange people in my flat and I'll attack first and ask questions of the survivors, not wait around and see if they're a threat to me or not."

Harry looked at his watch and groaned.

"Great, just great. You made me miss my date, Susan will never forgive me."

"Now Harry, I'm sure she'll understand. You were, after all, volunteering you time to a very important organization dedicated to the defeat of…"

"Forget it! I had no interest in joining a group that worshiped the very ground my idiot brother walked on but your attack has actually turned me away from you completely. I'll never join your precious Order Dumbledore, now get out of my way."

Harry walked forward and pushed past the group in front of him. He had just taken a step outside the room when he felt someone pull on his arm. Turning, he saw James Potter with a furious look.

"Now you look here boy, you will show the proper respect for Professor Dumbledore and your brother. It is only because of them that you are alive now."

"You mean because of them I'm so unknown. You and Mother don't care for me, you never have. I know you took money out of my vault to help pay for John's things. The only reason I didn't have to take out a scholarship was because I worked odd jobs around Diagon Alley during the summer. Even at school I was overlooked, John got away with everything while I was always punished, sometimes for things John did. Well now I'm finally out on my own and you can't do anything about it."

He then wrenched his arm free and started towards the stairs.

"Release yourself of your jealousy Harry" Dumbledore called after him, "It will lead you to a dark place from which there will no turning back."

Harry ignored him. He ran into his mother on the stairs. The two starred at each other for a few seconds before Harry stormed off again. Moody caught up with him as he reached the front door.

"You did well back there boy, really gave Dumbledore's people a real run for their money."

"Who all was there?"

"Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, and old Sturgis Podmore were Stunned right away, maybe they'll think twice now. Bill Weasley took down your wards though you gave him a pretty bad bruise on the back of his right leg and head. Nearly killed Kingsley with that stunt with the window, very good by the way. Broke his nose as well and gave him numerous cuts across his back, still pulling glass out when I last saw him."

"Hope he doesn't try and kill me later."

"You'll be fine boy, really gave him a workout. If anything, he'll thank yah. It was your father that Stunned you by the way. Brought along his Invisibility Cloak and hid when the tables turned, though you got him with a deep cut on his arm. All in all, I'd say you did very good Potter, keep up the good work."

"Thanks Moody, I'll see you at work Monday, That is if Susan or her aunt doesn't kill me first."

Moody chuckled as Harry Apparated away. He then turned around and rejoined Dumbledore.

"There's much anger in that one, I fear we may be too late."

"What do you mean Albus?" asked a worried Lily Potter.

"His defiance of me along with the way he attack Kingsley's group makes me believe that he's already joined Voldemort. Alastor, keep an eye on him."

"Albus! Have you lost your marbles, Harry Potter join the Dark Side? Unthinkable."

"Alastor, you saw what he did to Miss Granger and the damage he did to Kingsley and Bill. He attacked them without provocation and that leads me to believe he has joined the Death Eaters."

"You idiot, he attacked them because they were strange people in his home, even I would've attacked them. As for Granger, he had just been attacked, wouldn't you grab the first person you saw as a shield?"

"I would not. Harry's attitude and actions tonight as well as his hatred of his brother leaves me no doubt. He, and possibly Miss Bones as well, are now Death Eaters."

"Now I know you lost you marbles. Susan Bones? She's the niece of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement!"

"Of course, what better spy to have in place. The two were meeting tonight after all."

"Oh it couldn't be that they are dating, no, it has to be something sinister. And people say _I_ come up with outrageous excesses. Mark my words Albus, if you get into a fight with Harry Potter, I won't pity the small bit of you that survives."

Lily Potter watch Alastor Moody hobble away. She had overheard him and Tonks discussing Harry's progress within the Auror Corps. While it was true she had ignored her youngest son in favor of his older brother, it was because John was going to be a major part in the war. She had been impressed by Harry's skill during the Tournament and was even more so now.

She also thought about her son's girlfriend. John had been just like his godfather, going after any girl he saw but had finally settled on one. Ginny was a nice girl but very demanding and Lily was afraid John was going to end up a father before he was ready. However, she knew nothing about Harry or Susan. Maybe it was time to fix that.

"POTTER! MY OFFCE!"

Everyone in the Auror Office turned towards Harry. When Gawain Robards called you into his office, it was never good. As Harry walked to what he was certain to be the end of his career, he wondered what it was about. Could he have messed up some of his paperwork, or had his training not been satisfactory? Whatever it was, it was enough for Robards to be angrier than Harry had ever seen him.

When Harry entered the office, Robards was sitting back in his chair, his fingertips together as he rested his hands on his chest. Harry gulped nervously and took a seat. Robards didn't say anything for several long seconds and then leaned forward.

"Do you know who I had here in my office earlier Potter?"

"No sir?"

"Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. My boss and the person who every here responds to. Do you know what she wanted? She was asking about you! She asked to see your file, all the work you've done since you started here. Do you know what, she wasn't happy. Do you know why she was unhappy? It was because there was nothing in your file that indicated your job was stopping you from seeing her niece.

"She told me that Susan came back to her house in a fit, saying that you never showed to your scheduled date. The very date you've been preparing for for the last three weeks. The date you scheduled on her birthday. Amelia Bones isn't happy with you Potter and believe she was looking through your file to see is there was anything she could use against you, maybe even fire you. I don't know what is going on but whatever it is, you'd better fix it. Now, get outta my sight."

Harry sighed and walked out of the office. As soon as he got back to his flat the night Dumbledore had kidnapped him, Harry had sent Hedwig off with a letter explaining everything. Hedwig returned early in the afternoon, signifying that Susan had refused to take the letter. He had tried again that morning before leaving for work but was met with the same results.

He sat down at his desk with a quiet 'Morning, Fay' and received a powerful Stinging Hex.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Sorry Harry, but orders are orders. Mad-Eye says we're to increase the frequency of our attacks and I'm allowed to attack you now."

Grumbling, Harry turned to get some work done but was unable to as Fay sent a Stinging Hex his way every five minutes. Finally, Harry decided to go work in the complex just to get away.

Amelia Bones looked over the files before her. It wasn't often that she brought work home with her but with the war going on it became more and more frequent. However, the report she was going over had little to do with the war. She had heard about the ambush at Harry's flat and had both him and Kingsley fill out a report on it.

Harry's gave a few details but read more like an explanation as to why he did each move he made and what he should've done instead. It took several read throughs to get an idea of what happened. Kingsley's was better written but gave more of an excuse as to why he and five members of Dumbledore's Order had to attack Harry. The whole thing was giving her a headache and she seriously wanted to pull the plug on Dumbledore's little group. Right now they were causing more problems than preventing attacks.

It was at that moment Mipsy, the Bones's house-elf, popped it.

"Excess Mipsy Miss, but Miss has a visitor."

"Who is it Mipsy?"

"T'is Missus Potter, she is wanting to talk about young Miss's Potter."

Sighing, Amelia allowed Mipsy to let Lily Potter in. At least it would allow her to take a break from reading the reports.

"Thank-you for allowing me in Madam Bones."

"Of course Lily, now what is this about?"

"I was wondering if you heard about what happened a couple nights ago with my son?"

"Yes, I heard. From what I understand, your husband and a few of Dumbledore's people attack Harry in his own flat. You then kidnapped him and caused him to miss his date with my niece. Susan was not happy when she learned that Harry stood her up."

"I am very sorry about that, if you'll allow me to speak with Susan I'm sure the whole matter can be…"

"Susan does not want to talk to anyone. Harry hurt her badly, even though it was not his fault. She sees any attempt on Harry's behalf to be an attempt to…"

Before Amelia could finish, the house gave a little shake.

"What was that?"

The house gave another, more violent, shake and a shrill whistle sounded.

"The wards are falling, we are under attack!"

Harry was just finishing the last of his paperwork when an alarm sounded throughout the Auror Office. Every Auror in the Office immediately stood and ran for the complex. Harry and Fay were confused as to what was happening when someone shouted, "The wards around Bones Manor are down, Madam Bones is under attack!"

Harry quickly stood and joined the assembled Aurors. If Bones Manor was under attack that meant Susan was in danger. The assembled Aurors were gathering into two groups to portkey to the Manor. Harry tried to join one group but Tonks pushed him away.

"No Harry, you're still a Trainee. Only Full Aurors are being called, you are ordered to stay here. I promise, I find and look out for Susan."

The groups then portkeyed away, leaving Harry standing there. Screw orders, if Susan was in danger he was going to rescue her. He ran back out to the cubicle area and grabbed an emergency portkey. Two of the remaining Aurors saw what he was doing and tried to stop him. Harry ignored all protests and activated the portkey.

When Harry arrived it was to the middle of a battle. Death Eaters blocked the Aurors from getting to the house, which Harry just noticed was on fire. Assisting the Aurors were members of Dumbledore's Order. Both groups outnumbered the Death Eaters but the dark wizards weren't giving ground. Harry saw one Auror fall and rushed to take his place.

"Harry?" Tonks was next to him. "I thought I told you to remain at the Office."

"I'm not going to stay there when I know Susan's in danger."

"You could easily get fired for this, your Trainer gave you a direct order."

"I don't care, so long as Susan is safe nothing else matters."

Further talk was prevented as one of the Death Eaters launched a powerful Blasting Curse at the group. They were forced to scatter to avoid being blasted to pieces. The Aurors and Order regrouped and started to push for the house. As they got closer, Harry saw a group emerge and fire a green curse into the air. The Death Eaters laughed and retreated.

Looking up, Harry saw the curse was the Dark Mark. Fear flooded Harry at that moment. He took off for the house, pushing past the other Aurors who were already making their way inside.

"Susan? Susan?" Harry called as he searched room after room.

"Harry!" He turned and a red-head missile attacked him. It was Susan and she was crying hard.

"Susan! Are you alright, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, we're all fine. I'm sorry Harry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to avoid you."

Harry held her close and didn't speak. It felt good to have Susan in his arms.

"Harry! Susan! We need to leave, the house is burning down!"

It was Tonks and she was waving them towards her frantically. Harry grabbed Susan's arm and pulled her along behind him. Together, the three ran towards the front door, avoiding the flames when they could. Harry tried to put them out with _Aguamenti_ but it had no effect.

"Cursed fire, Harry." Tonks explained.

Soon, they were outside and turned to look at the house. Flames covered the entire upper stories and the lower weren't far behind. Harry knew Bones Manor would be nothing but ash in minutes.

Looking around, Harry saw Dumbledore standing by the Minister and Madam Bones along with his parents. Tonks and Remus were talking off to one side while other members of the Order were tending to their wounded. Of the original twenty Aurors who answered the call, only twelve remained. Two were lost inside the house while five were killed outright. The eighth died from injuries suffered from the battle.

Harry and Susan joined her aunt by Dumbledore.

"What now?"

"The Potters have kindly offered us room at their place Susan."

"We have plenty of room, you can move in whenever you like." James said.

"You could stay with me Susan, I have an extra room."

"I'm sorry Harry, but I really think it's best if you join Madam Bones and Susan in moving back into Potter Manor. It's already been proven that your flat can be easily broken into and you'd be much safer at your family's house."

"You mean broken into by you and your little group, and I think I've proven that I can defend by place quite well."

"None the less Harry, I still think you should move back in with your parents and brother, this attack was directed at you."

"What do you mean Albus?"

"I mean, Madam Bones, that the Death Eaters wished to deliver a message to young Mr. Potter. They wished to show him what happens to those he loves when he opposes them. At Potter Manor, Harry and Susan can be protected and still be able to work against the Death Eaters."

"I'll never move back into that place. Susan, you can do what you want but I really think you'll be better protected at my family's manor."

"No, I'll stay with you. I'm sorry Professor Dumbledore but I think Harry can protect me just as well as the manor could. You don't mind, do you Auntie?"

"You're eighteen Susan, you can do what you like, but please, stay safe."

"I will."

Dumbledore sighed as he watched the couple walk away. There went his plan to get the two under his watchful eye. While at the manor, it would've been easy to confirm if the two were Death Eaters.

Harry and Susan stopped walking and starred at the burning house.

"You-Know-Who really likes Halloween doesn't he?"

Harry didn't answer. He had just realized something important, his flat only had one bathroom.

It turned out that the bathroom problem wasn't as bad as Harry originally thought. While Harry liked to take showers in the morning, Susan preferred evening showers. Harry was also up earlier than Susan so he was finished long before she needed it in the mornings.

Moving Susan in was a lot easier as well. Although she had lost many things at the Manor, most of it was easily replaced and didn't require much effort to move it all. She also didn't need as much stuff. Harry second bedroom was just used for extra storage and gathering dust, but by the end of the day, with a little help from Hannah and Neville, Susan was completely moved in.

Living with Susan was also very nice. Both of them got to see each other every day and didn't have to go out to eat together, though that didn't stop Harry from planning such outings. They were there for each other when one had a bad day or was feeling down and it was a sign of good things when both were in high moods. As he got used to living with Susan Bones, Harry began to think about a more permanent relationship, especially once Neville stopped by the Office one time.

"You have a visitor Mr. Potter."

Harry looked up. Neville was standing behind him, looking very nervous.

"Hey Neville, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could talk to you over lunch?"

Harry took a quick look at the clock on the wall.

"Sure, let me just finish up this report. I'll meet you by the lifts."

Ten minutes later, Harry and Neville were having lunch by the little café in the Atrium of the Ministry. They ate in silence for a while but Neville's constant fidgeting finally drove Harry nuts.

"O.K. Neville, what is this about?"

Neville starred at his plate for a few seconds before answering. "Hannah's been by your place a lot, right?"

Harry nodded. Ever since Susan moved in, Hannah had showed up several times a week. At first it was to drop off some extra clothing for her friend but now Hannah was stopping by just about every day.

"Has she said anything about me?"

"No, why? Did you two get into a fight or something?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I just want to know what she thinks of me."

Harry didn't answer as he thought that there was more to this than Neville was revealing.

"I want to ask Hannah to marry me."

"Congratulations mate!"

"Whoa, hold on Harry, I haven't asked her yet. I just want to know how she feels before I ask. I'm scared she may say no."

"She won't Neville. I know she loves you and won't be able to refuse if you do it right. Just give it a go and Hannah Abbott will be Hannah Longbottom before you know it."

"Thanks Harry, I just needed someone to calm my nerves. Normally I'd ask my dad for help but…. I'm thinking about doing over Christmas, just putting the ring in a present. Then we can have the wedding as soon as spring hits, Hannah always loves the spring."

"Sounds good to me, just save the spot of best man for me, will you?"

The two had a laugh at that.

"O.K. you lot, listen up!" John Dawlish paced in front of the group. Savage had decided Harry and Fay had enough theoretical training and it was time to get them into the field to see how it really was done. There first assignment was to join a group of Aurors who were going to be patrolling Hogsmeade Village while students from Hogwarts visited. They had received a tip that Voldemort might try and attack the village in an attempt to spread fear before the winter holidays.

Harry was considering himself lucky that he had made it this far considering his little trick with disobeying orders on the Halloween Attack. As soon as all the Aurors got back he had been called in Savage's office.

"That was a deliberate act of insubordination Mr. Potter! You were ordered by your training officer that you were to remain here and not go to Bones Manor. You defied orders and went, putting yourself and other Aurors at risk. That kind of attitude does not belong in the Auror Corps and as a Trainee I have excellent ground to fire you.

"However, you did assist in protecting Madam Bones and her niece. You have valuable skills that the Aurors cannot lose and for that I will not fire you. But get this through your head Potter, mess up again and skills or no skills I _will_ fire you. As of this moment you are placed on probation, you will remain here at the Office and be banned from assignments for six months. During this time you will work hard in the complex and make sure all of our equipment is in top shape. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal sir."

Fortunately for Harry, they needed more people for this mission so he had been temporarily taken off of probation. Their mission was simple, patrol the village while the students visited and shopped. If Death Eaters attacked, they were to get all the students back up to the school as quickly as possible. No students were to remain behind to help.

An hour later and Harry was walking the snow covered streets of Hogsmeade, wand drawn and eyes darting all over the place. By his side, Fay was doing the same. They, along with Tonks, Dawlish, and four other Aurors had joined several members of the Order in patrolling the streets. Harry believed that something was going to happen today and told Tonks and Fay as much. Both agreed to be on high alert.

So far, all they had done was walk back and forth between the path from Hogwarts to the Three Broomsticks. Hogsmeade looked a lot different while patrolling as an Auror then walking around as a student. Maybe that was because it was quieter without being with friends, shopping, all the noise swallowed up by the seriousness of their job. It could also be because very few students were out in the village, most deciding to stay up at the castle. They had just turned around to make what seemed like their one hundredth walk to the High Street when he heard someone call out his name.

"Harry!" It was Luna, and she was being followed by a boy her age with light brown hair and Slytherin robes.

"Luna! How are you? And who is this?"

"Harry, meet my new boyfriend Rolf Scamander. Rolf, meet Harry, who I consider my brother in all but blood."

"Hello Rolf" Harry said as he shock the nervous boy's hand, "it's good to meet you. As Luna's older brother, do I have to give you the 'older brother talk'?"

"N-no sir." Rolf stammered as Luna whined, "Harry!"

"Harry come on, we have work to do" Fay said. She had been most unpleasant since Harry had started his probation. Probably because if he was fired she'd fail basic training as well.

"Sorry guys, duty calls. Rolf, just treat her right and we'll have no problems; Luna, it was nice to see you again. Send me an owl sometime and actually tell me about your boyfriend."

Luna just giggled and waved as Harry walked away. He had taken just a few steps when she screamed out loud. Harry turned and saw what had scarred Luna. Wide-eyed, she was pointing towards the far end of the village where the Dark Mark hoover above the rooftops.

* * *

><p><strong>I've noticed that I've fallen behind on my other story while I work on this one. While that's not too bad I was hoping to post the next chapter to it as well. Also, working on twothree stories at a time is difficult so I wanted to get part of it out of the way for a while. Ah well.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the late posting, it may be summer but for some reason I don't have as much time as I thought. My parents are making me work around the house and I start my new summer job soon so I won't have a lot of time to write, but I will try to get a chapter out a week. I meant to ask this last chapter but forgot, would you all like to see Lily reconnect with Harry or not? I'll go with the popular opinion.**

* * *

><p>Harry looked at the Dark Mark for a few seconds before his training set in.<p>

"Luna, Rolf, get back to the castle, now!"

Harry and Fay ran forward towards the village. They caught what students they could and pushed them back to Hogwarts. They were helped along by some of the villagers who had seen the Mark and knew what to do. As the last of the students were running up the path, a wolfish Patronus arrived. It was Tonks's.

"Harry, Fay, stay with the students and escort them back to Hogwarts. Do not head for the Dark Mark, your orders are to protect the students."

Harry growled. The moment the last of the students were safe, he was planning on taking down a few Death Eaters himself. A look from Fay told him that if he took even one step towards the Mark, he was a dead man.

"Go. Head up to the front" he told her. She looked at him skeptically.

"It would be best to make sure they aren't ambushed on the way up, I'll bring up the rear. Promise."

She gave him one last look before rushing off towards the castle. Harry hung back, urging the last of the students on, keeping his eyes on the village. He was about to turn back to Hogwarts when he heard footsteps beside him. It was Luna.

"Luna? I thought I told you to go back to the castle."

"No way Harry, I'm staying to help you" she said stubbornly.

"And I couldn't leave her behind" Rolf supplied, also pulling out his wand.

"No. No students are to fight the Death Eaters, those are my orders. You two are going right back up to the castle now."

Before they could say anything else, several screams sounded from the path up to Hogwarts. Harry took off running, Luna and Rolf not far behind him. When he arrived at where the screams came from, Harry's head nearly stopped. Five figures were surrounding a group of students; one of them had one slung over his shoulder. However, the one in the middle had Harry's complete attention.

"Greyback!"

Fenrir Greyback turned around and Harry got a good look at the werewolf. He was tall and hairy, letting his animalistic side show out. When he smiled, he showed his yellow, pointed teeth.

"Well, well, looky here. An Auror huh, why aren't you with your little friends taking care of my friends?"

"Someone had to stay to take care of you, Stupefy!"

Greyback dodged Harry's spell and moved to fight, without a wand. His fellow werewolves drew their wands, eager for battle. Harry focused mainly on Greyback. A bad move which he only realized when one of the other werewolves' spells barely missed him. He turned to take him out when he feel from a Stunner from Luna. He gave a nod of thanks to her and then move towards one of the werewolves who was advancing on the frightened students. He put the wolf in a Body-Bind, making sure he fell on his face hard.

"Go!" he told the students. They didn't need telling twice. Harry looked around, both Luna and Rolf took down a werewolf but Greyback was still there and moving after the students.

"Luna, Rolf! Get back to the castle, protect the students. I'll hold off Greyback."

The two ran, firing spells at Greyback but the werewolf easily avoided them. Rolf picked up the unconscious student one of the werewolves dropped and carried her off. That just left Harry and an angry Greyback.

"You'll pay for this Auror."

"Fenrir Greyback, by the authority granted to me by the Ministry for Magic, you are under arrest for crimes against the community. Surrender peacefully and the courts may go easy on you."

Harry was required to state that when attempting to make an official arrest though most Aurors say it after they've arrested a suspect. He was actually hoping that Greyback would refuse. The werewolf just laughed. Harry gripped his wand tightly, ready to battle for his life.

Greyback made the first move, charging at him at high speed. Shocked, Harry only just managed to get out of the way in time. Greyback reached out to claw him but only got Harry's cloak. Harry turned and tried to get off a spell but Greyback was too fast, moving before the first syllable managed to leave Harry's mouth.

They did this twice more, and then Greyback jumped. Harry ducked and rolled forward, ending up behind Greyback when he landed. He pointed his wand behind him and shouted off an Exploding Hex. He heard an explosion and Greyback grunt. Standing, Harry saw that the explosion knocked the werewolf back a foot but he was quickly standing. He pointed his wand at him but Greyback moved again. This time, Harry couldn't get away. First, he grabbed Harry's throat, then his wand hand, pointing the wand down and away from him.

"I told you you'd pay Auror" he said in his ear, squeezing Harry's throat. "I know who you are Potter. The Dark Lord wants you alive but I think he'll accept that I had no choice but to kill you in battle. And then, after you're dead, I'll go after your little girlfriend. The Dark Lord does want her dead and I think he'll reward me if I give him both of your bodies, ha ha."

And then he squeezed. Harry felt his air supply quickly disappear as Greyback's superior strength crushed the life out of him. He fought back as hard as he could; he was not going to let Greyback kill him or Susan. He estimated he only had enough time and strength left for one more spell and it had better count.

Harry tried to move his wand so he could get a better angle on Greyback but the werewolf was holding his arm in just the right way. As if he could feel Harry's struggles, the beast laughed and squeezed harder. He felt the blackness of death approach as the last of the air left his lungs but he would not give in. With determination, Harry thought one word, _Incendio_.

The wordless spell work and Harry's wand spit out a bunch of flames that burned Harry's robes and Greyback's hand. The werewolf instantly let go, allowing Harry to bring his wand around in a slashing motion. Still spitting out fire, the wand caused Greyback's clothes to catch fire. He let go of Harry to battle the small fire and Harry quickly backed away, giving him time to catch his breath.

A few seconds later and Harry raised his wand to point at Greyback. The werewolf was rising, the fire on his robes out. He raised his hand, fingernails like claws, and made ready to move. This time, Harry was faster.

"For Remus!" he shouted. A thin, bright light shot out of his wand and hit Greyback in the chest. He gave grunt of surprise and froze. He eyes locked with Harry's for a brief second before they rolled back. Greyback fell to the ground and Harry could see exactly what his spell did. There was a small hole in the center of his chest, right where the heart should be. It was still smoking.

"Harry!"

It was Tonks. She and the other Aurors were running towards him and the werewolves.

"Tonks! It was a trick, the Death Eaters were…"

"A distraction, we know. One of the Death Eaters mentioned it as they were Apparating away. We came as soon as we could. Are you alright, is anyone hurt, where's Fay?"

"She took the rest of the students back up to the school while I took the rear. So far these are the only ones around."

"You took on all of them Potter?" ask Dawlish as he inspected the bodies.

"No sir, a couple of the students were reluctant to go back to the castle. They got those three before I managed to get them to go back."

Tired, Harry sat on the stone wall behind him to rest.

"Merlin's beard!" called Dawlish. He was standing by Greyback's body. "It's Fenrir Greyback!"

"You captured him Harry?" asked Tonks, turning towards him. "Do you realize how great this is?"

"I don't think so Auror Tonks." Dawlish was kneeling by Greyback while two other Aurors held their wands on him. He looked directly into Harry's eyes as he said his next words. "He's dead."

* * *

><p>Lily Potter sat nervously at the kitchen table. She was nervous because yesterday, her son John had joined the Order in his first ever mission. He had volunteered to protect the students of Hogwarts as they visited the village of Hogsmeade. Snape had told them all at the last meeting that the Dark Lord was considering an assault of village while the students were there. So far she had heard nothing about the attack but an emergency meeting was called for that night.<p>

She had just taken a sip of her morning coffee when her husband and Sirius Black entered, both extremely tired and barely awake. Last night had been a full moon and they had kept Remus company like they usually did. If it wasn't for the full moon, the three friends would've joined the Order in the mission.

Both men grabbed their own cups of coffee had emptied them in one loud gulp. Sirius then pitched forward and fell asleep on the table. At that moment Remus himself entered, looking worse than his two friends. He sat down and took a sip from his cup before picking up the _Daily Prophet_ that had just arrived. He took a second sip and then spit it out all over Sirius.

"Wha..?"

Everyone looked at Remus. He was staring at the paper with a shocked look on his face.

"Remus, what is it?"

The werewolf said nothing but turned the _Prophet_ over so that they could all see. On the front page was a large picture of the infamous Fenrir Greyback. Above the picture was the caption, FENRIR GREYBACK DEAD.

James, now wide awake, grabbed the paper out of Remus's hand and began to read it aloud.

_Yesterday, the Auror Department announced that the infamous werewolf Fenrir Greyback was killed after a failed Death Eater raid that also captured four other werewolves. _

_It raid itself happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Nearly a dozen Death Eaters attacked the village of Hogsmeade while students from Hogwarts were visiting. The purpose of the attack was to draw Auror forces away from the school while Greyback and his werewolves attempted to kidnap several students. However, the werewolves were foiled in their objective by Trainee Aurors Fay Dunbar and Harry Potter, younger brother of the Boy-Who-Lived John Potter. _

_The two Aurors defended the students as they fled back to the school. Greyback's partners were captured in the resulting battle while Greyback himself was killed by Auror Potter. Neither Auror nor any of the students were available for comment. _

_Citizens reacted with Greyback's death to great enthusiasm. _

'_He was real menace' says Molly Thornwell, 'I'm just glad he's dead'. _

'_Our children can sleep easier now' said a man who wished to remain anonymous. _

_What does Greyback's death mean for the war effort? Is this a decisive victory for the Ministry or is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named merely stalled for now. And what of young Mr. Potter? Is this the beginning of a brilliant career or just a highlight in an unremarkable light? Only time will tell._

"Greyback, dead." Remus was still in shock though you could see a hint of a smile taking shape on his face. "This is great. And Harry did it too. I must see him."

Remus stood and raced out of the kitchen.

"I do hope Harry is alright" Lily said as she stared at the snarling picture of Greyback.

* * *

><p>This time, when Harry was called into Robards' office it wasn't because of anything bad.<p>

"How are you feeling Potter?"

"Fine sir." Robards starred. "Honestly."

"Greyback may have been a monster Potter, but he was still a man. Well, sort of. The point is, even my best and toughest Aurors feel something when they kill another human, especially for the first time. Greyback was your first, and I'm afraid he may not be your last in this war, so I want you to be honest with me about this."

"I am sir, Greyback was a monster and I put him down. I feel nothing except relief about his death."

"Your godfather was bitten by Greyback, is that true?"

"Yes sir."

"And that had nothing to do with Greyback's death?"

"A little sir. He was attacking children and took great pride in it. He was dangerous and couldn't be brought in any other way."

"Very well. The magical community owes you quite a bit Harry. I'm going to allow you to take a break, you can go home now."

"Sir, I'd like to stay and continue working."

"Is your report on the Hogsmeade attack finished?"

"Yes sir."

"Then go home. You are on leave until after Christmas, you've earned it."

"Yes sir." And with that, Harry left the office.

"Going home?" Fay watched as Harry collected the paperwork he still had to do.

"Unfortunately."

"Great, I get stuck with looking after a bunch of brats while you get to have all the fun and then get to go home early."

"You do realize that you were one of those 'brats' less than a year ago, right?"

"Details."

"Alright, next time you get to fight the most dangerous werewolf in Britain while I take the credit for capturing his four underlings by doing nothing, how's that sound?"

Fay didn't respond but just kept on working. Harry took that as a sign of surrender and left.

"Potter." It was Moody. "Going home I see."

"Robards' orders. He's giving me leave time because of Greyback."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, he knows that you're only eighteen and you've just made your first kill. He worried about how you're going to cope with it. Give you a little time to think it over and get over it so that you're fully ready for your next mission. I did the same when I made my first kill. Took two weeks off but the nightmares didn't go away until two years."

"I thought you captured people alive?"

"I try to but I will kill when necessary. You did what was necessary and I approve, though don't let it affect you too much or you'll either be unable to do your job or become someone like the Death Eaters, remember that."

"Thanks Moody."

"Now, get along home to your girlfriend, but make sure you stay in shape. You may be taking a break but that doesn't mean the Death Eaters will. I expect you to put up an excellent fight when you return, understood?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"Get outta here smart guy."

* * *

><p>That night, the Order had an important meeting. The main topic was what happened yesterday at Hogsmeade and the results.<p>

"Order, order" Dumbledore called. "Severus, what news about Voldemort?"

"The Dark Lord is furious about the failed attack. He wanted Greyback to capture several students from prominent families. He would threaten to either kill the children or give them to Greyback if they didn't do as he said. It was to also show the world that Hogwarts wasn't as safe as everyone believes.

"Potter's victory against Greyback though is what holds most of his attention. He had spies trailing the boy since graduation. He wanted to recruit him to use as a powerful weapon against John and you. When we kidnaped him, the Dark Lord believed that Potter had sided with us. It is because of that, that the Dark Lord had offered a large bounty on the Death Eater who brings Harry to him alive.

"He plans to kill the boy personally, showing the world how powerful he really is, even against the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived. He may even have planned to use him as bait in a trap for John."

"Like I would try and rescue him."

"None the less, the Dark Lord believes that Harry is just as much a threat as you are. If he were to kill you both at once, it would strike a major blow to the Wizarding World."

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. Remus, what of the werewolves?"

"The remaining werewolves are divided. Greyback was a powerful leader and with him gone, a major power vacuum has been created."

"Do you think you could become the pack's leader?"

"No Dumbledore, many of them still don't trust me because of the time I spend with you. Four others have expressed their desire to lead us now. Two of them wish to side with Voldemort, though for different reasons. Radcliffe wishes to use Voldemort as a recruitment platform to start Greyback's war against the wizards while Jacob wishes to side with him because he believes that Voldemort will grant us the rights we don't have.

"Edward wishes to remain neutral, that way, at the end of the war, we aren't punished for supporting the wrong side. Albert however wishes to join the Order because he believes that you can protect him and persuade the Ministry to grant us rights if we help you."

"I see. Do what you can to get Albert as the pack leader though Edward won't be a bad second. Try and stop either Radcliffe or Jacob from becoming the leader. With the werewolves gone from Voldemort's camp we can begin working on persuading the giants to abandon him as well."

"And what about Harry?" asked Tonks.

"Voldemort's bounty proves what I tried to tell Harry, he isn't safe. James, Lily, do what you can to persuade Harry and Susan to join you at Potter Manor. After going through the reports Moody, Kingsley, and Tonks have provided, I know that Harry could be very valuable to us. The public already believes him to be some sort of hero because of Greyback and their hope is rising. If we can get Harry to join us, we may have a better chance."

"I don't want him here, he'll cramp my style" John called from the other end of the table.

"He's very valuable" Tonks snapped. "He's only a Trainee but he has done more than most other Aurors, imagine what he could do once he is a full Auror. Besides, I don't recall seeing you do anything, or being anywhere, during the battle yesterday."

"I….I was…I was dueling half a dozen Death Eaters…over by…by the Shrieking Shack. They were going to provide cover for the werewolves. If it wasn't for me, Harry would be dead and many of the students would be too."

"Really?" said Bill. "I and suppose that you and my sister _weren't_ getting up to you usual activities. I could've sworn I saw you sneak up to the Shack two minutes after my sister went there to 'look around'. And I guess Ginny didn't come back looking a mess but a very pleased look on her face because you both battled Death Eaters. Strange that she never said anything about that to me yesterday."

John could do nothing but stammer and blush heavily. Dumbledore chose that moment to end the meeting; they had discussed all they needed. The Order members filed out of the kitchen, some went for the floo, others for the front door to either Apparate or walk home. Soon it was just John and Dumbledore left.

"I don't want Harry to join the Order, he could cause a problem."

"I know, but he could cause even greater problems outside it. That's why I want him with us, to keep an eye on him."

"Aren't Moody and Tonks doing that already?"

"Yes, but I'm finding it difficult to trust them at the moment. I think they care more for Harry than our plans."

"Don't they realize that _I'm_ the one who will defeat You-Know-Who and that Harry is insignificant?"

"While you will be the one to fulfill the prophecy, I think Harry may have a larger role to play in this war than we expect. Once he's in the Order I can control his movements better and give you free reign. Once Harry's out of the public's eye, we'll have you do something spectacular and everyone will be behind you. Then, we can put our major plan into action and finally defeat Tom."

"Just keep Harry out of my way."

* * *

><p>When Harry stepped into the Auror office December twenty-sixth, he felt a lot better. The break had been good for him; he had been able to spend time with Susan and had come to terms that he had actually killed someone. He understood what Robards and Moody had tried to do; Greyback may have deserved to die but killing someone, anyone, wasn't easy. If you became too accustomed to it, it could kill who you are as a person and destroy your soul.<p>

He had barely taken two steps into the office when one of the Aurors called that Savage wanted Harry in his office. Harry wondered what Savage wanted with him, surely it wasn't about his break, he had gotten approval from Robards. Maybe it was just to check to see how he was doing. When he knocked, he was called in.

"Ah, Potter, good. How was your holiday?"

"Good sir."

"Did you finish your paperwork?"

"Yes sir, I have here."

"Leave it on the desk, I have your knew assignment. At this point Auror Tonks and I believe that you've reached a point in your training where you can learn little more from the office. You two are now going to be given small assignments to test how well you learned what you were supposed to learn and see if you're fit to becoming an Auror.

"Miss Dunbar already has her assignment so that just leaves you. We got this notice a couple of days ago; the regular Magical Law Squad needs an Auror to complete a high profile arrest. We want you to go with the Squad as part of your training. Report to Alastor Gumboil, he'll give you the briefing."

"Yes sir."

Harry dropped his paperwork on Savage's desk and went to his cubicle. Fay was gone like Savage said. He dropped off his things and grabbed a borrowed red Auror's robe. Pinning his badge to the front, Harry went to the Magical Law Enforcement Squad's office. Harry found Alastor in one of the conference rooms, briefing his squad on the mission.

"So, you're the Auror huh" he said when Harry entered, "I suppose you'll do. Let me introduce you to the rest of the squad. That's Jonathan Perkins, next to him Alison Rollands, and last but not least, we have Albert Smith."

The three gave polite greetings and Harry sat down.

"What's the mission?"

Gumboil threw a file in front of Harry. On the front was a picture of a grumpy looking blonde haired wizard with a scar running down the left side of his face.

"That's Hanz Kaufmann, a German wizard who's been smuggling many goods from Germany into Britain. Anything you can think of he's smuggled; magical creatures, illegal potions and ingredients, black-market items, sometimes even muggle women. We've kept an eye on his operation for a couple years now and finally managed to get an informant in almost two years ago. They've tipped us off that this time Kaufmann had gotten his hands on something big, worth more than a million Galleons. He's personally bringing it and we've decided it's time to arrest him and seize whatever he's got."

"Understood, when is he coming in?"

"In a couple of nights. He wants to sell whatever it is before the year is over. We think he may try and sell his item to You-Know-Who because he said it would be real 'war changer'. We can't let that happen so we're finally going to get him."

Harry spent the next few days going over the file. Kaufmann was bright but surrounded himself with underlings with lower intelligence. This was to make sure that they did steal from him but it also made things more difficult. This would also make things easier when they moved in to arrest him.

When the night came, Harry was crouched behind a bunch of crates with Smith. Rollands and Perkins were a couple feet away to the left while Gumboil was farther away. They were at an empty muggle dock waiting for Kaufmann's barge to come in. After three hours of waiting, it was spotted.

"This is it. Remember, wait until you see Kaufmann. Once Alastor confirms it's him, we move in."

Harry nodded at Smiths orders; Gumboil had said the same thing to him before they left the Ministry. There were two men standing onto the barge while a third walked over from the other side of the dock. They exchanged words Harry couldn't hear for a couple minutes before they started tying the barge to the dock.

Once the barge was secure, the three men stood off to the side. Two more men appeared and walked down the ramp onto the docks. Harry and Smith were the closest so they could see the blonde hair of the man in front.

Smith poked Harry in the ribs and pointed. From behind his crates, where the men couldn't see him, Gumboil was letting off green sparks, they had permission to go.

"Ministry of Magic Law Enforcement," they shouted as they appeared, wands pointed at the men, "Show your hands and don't make any sudden moves!"

Four of the men did as they were told while the fifth, Kaufmann, ran. He shouted something at his men that Harry couldn't understand but it was easy to figure out. The four drew their wands and started firing.

"Don't let Kaufmann get away!" shouted Gumboil.

The Squad move to pursue but Kaufmann's men weren't letting them. Forced into a battle, the Squad had no choice but to fight back or risk serious injury. Harry however went after Kaufmann.

The German wizard had a good start but couldn't Apparate away, so it was a chase through the docks. They weaved in, out, and around crates and shipping containers, seeing each other for only a brief second. Harry spent two minutes looking after his last sighting when a loud bang came a few feet to his right. Turning, Harry ran in that direction, following the more bangs that followed, like Kaufmann was hitting the containers.

Then, Harry stopped. Why was he hitting the containers, it let him know where he was. It then hit Harry, a distraction. Harry would follow the noise while Kaufmann would flee in the other direction. Harry turned and ran the other way.

Sure enough, Kaufmann was running out in the open field, a good ways away. It was too far for Harry to run and catch up with him but he ran anyways. Kaufmann must've realized that Harry was behind him because he started firing spells behind his back. Harry blocked any that came his way and fired his own. The two continued to trade spells and Harry had an idea.

"Levicorpus!"

Kaufmann gave a surprised yelp as he suddenly found himself hanging in the air by his ankles. Something fell out of Kaufmann's pocket and the wizard tried to catch it. The object fell between his fingers and bounced off the ground towards Harry. Thinking it was what Kaufmann wanted to sell, he picked it up.

It was a simple ring, worth about six Galleons to Harry's eye, much less one million. It was ugly in Harry's opinion, just a gold ring with a large black stone. On the stone was a weird symbol; a triangle with a circle inside it with a single line going through them.


	16. Chapter 16

Harry stared at the unusual ring for a few seconds before Kaufmann's yells reminded him where he was. The German wizard was cursing loudly, reaching out his arms to grab at Harry and the ring. He pocketed the ring and conjured ropes to tie up Kaufmann. After he was tied tightly, Harry canceled the spell and Kaufmann fell to the ground hard.

Kaufmann started shouting louder, cursing Harry and his family. Harry just jabbed him hard with his wand, forcing Kaufmann to march back towards the docks. They had only made it a couple of steps when Kaufmann's yelling got on Harry's nerves so much that he was forced to silence him just to think.

A minute later, Harry and Kaufmann were back at the dock. Gumboil was standing next to Rollands, standing guard over Kaufmann's men while the rest of the team was searching the barge. When he saw them, Gumboil broke out into a large smile.

"Good work Potter, you got him."

"Thanks Gumboil, I'm just glad I could help you get this scum. All I found on him was a ring that doesn't look like it's worth much. Did you guys find anything on the barge?"

"No" said Smith as he and the other members arrived. "We searched the ship top to bottom, even finding a couple of secret holds, but there's nothing in there."

"Hmm, must have been a bad call. Well, at least we have Kaufmann. All right people, let's get these guys back to the Ministry."

With a couple of quick pops, the group left the dock. Kaufmann and his men were placed in holding cells to await trial before the Council of Magical Law in two days. Gumboil's team would do the interrogation work so Harry was formally excused from the assignment. Before he left, Harry showed Gumboil the ring he found. An Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries was called up to examine it just in case.

Four hours later Harry plopped into his chair at his desk, dead tired. Due to the specifics of the assignment, Harry was given yesterday off to get ready but he was now required to work the full day today. Kaufmann's ring lay on the desk in front of Harry. The Unspeakable couldn't find anything so it was deemed a regular ring. He was to log it into confiscated property but Harry wanted to examine it further before he did so.

Harry picked up the ring and stared hard at it. He slowly turned it over in his hand, going over every inch carefully. Every time he did so, he kept coming back to the strange symbol on the ring's face, he felt like he knew the symbol. He spent an hour pouring over a dozen rune books, looking for the symbol and then spent twenty minutes going over stacks of parchment that identified family crests. Nothing matched.

With a tired sigh, Harry dropped the ring on the desk and leaned back. He rubbed his tired eyes and tried to think. The closest he had come was a Coat-of-Arms for the ancient Peverell Family but the line was so old and extinct that it couldn't be verified. In fact, the Peverell Family was so old that it didn't have an official Coat-of-Arms as it died out before wizards started using them to identify their line.

Harry just stared at the ring, sitting still as a statue. The black stone seemed to be calling out to him, daring him to find out its true power. Harry stared at it for so long that he didn't notice the Office getting darker and darker. By the time Harry came to his senses, there was no light anywhere yet he could still see himself and the ring upon his desk. With a gulp, Harry recognized where he was.

"You have done well" came a familiar voice.

Harry turned and the hunched figure of Death was gliding towards him. Fear flooded Harry but he did his best not to let it show.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon my friend."

"You would have seen me eventually, but the question was not if, but when."

"Why are you here, surely I haven't died again?"

"No, thank-goodness. I'm here because of that ring." And Death stuck out its skeletal finger to point at the ring on Harry's desk.

"So, you know what it is?"

"I do. Though it has been many years I would never forget it or the other two gifts I gave."

"What is it?"

"Tell me Harry, have you ever heard of the Deathly Hallows?"

Harry gulped. He had heard of them, though it was mostly rumors. Supposedly, the Hallows were three very power magical objects that Death himself gave three brothers when they beat him at his own game. The story was believed to be the origin of the story "A Tale of Three Brothers" by Beedle the Bard. It was his brother's and father's favorite story.

"That ring contains the Stone that I gave Cadmus Peverell many, many years ago. That accursed ring that can call people back from the land of the dead."

"Then…then they're real?"

"Of course they're real, though this is the first time all three have been found since the time of the Peverell Brothers."

"What do you mean?"

"That fool Dumbledore holds the Elder Wand that he won from Grindelwald during their duel while your father and brother hold my Cloak. That Stone though, that ring, it has been hidden for many years and I thought it lost forever."

"A smuggler found it and brought it here. I arrested him a few hours ago." An idea formed in Harry's head. "He wanted to sell a powerful artifact that could change the tide of the war. Could the Stone be used to make Inferi?"

"In theory, possibly. I created the Stone so that whoever was called back wouldn't really belong. The idea was to use Cadmus's love to make him take his own life but its power could go beyond its original purpose."

"Then it is too dangerous to be here, you must take it back!"

"I cannot, otherwise I would've done so a long time ago. Unfortunately, the objects I created how a special magic all their own that I did not foresee. In order for me to take them back, that magic must be broken."

"How?"

"By using them against their purpose. The Master of the Elder Wand must die undefeated, the Owner of the Cloak must not be able to pass it on, and the Commander of the Stone must use it not to call someone from the dead, but to aid the dead calling the living to them."

Harry nodded. He didn't understand all of what Death said but he responded, "I see."

Death then leaned forward so that their faces were inches apart. "Listen to me Harry Potter, I want you to collect all three objects together. Break their power and make them useless. I want those abominations gone for good, do you understand me?"

The way Death talked frightened Harry so much he couldn't speak so he nodded instead. Death then leaned back and glided backwards. The darkness around Harry disappeared and the Office came back into focus.

When Harry got back to his flat he thought about trying out the Stone but realized that Death probably wouldn't like that. He also had no one to call back from the dead so that was out anyway. Harry however, was more interested in his father's Cloak. He knew it had been in the family for generations and still looked like new. He had never seen it up-close or even used it yet he was really curious.

He was filled with such curiosity that he had to check the Cloak out. Within a minute, he had Apparated to Potter Manor. It was empty as everyone was out doing something. Harry suspected that the Cloak would be with John's things and he wasn't wrong. John's room was a complete mess that at first Harry didn't think he would be able to find it until he looked on the bed. Upon the unmade bed was a silvery cloak.

Picking it up, the Cloak flowed like liquid in his hands. He watched his hands disappear as he turned the Cloak over, looking, not really sure what he was looking for. Finally, he found something along the hem near the bottom of the Cloak. It was the same triangular symbol that he found on the ring. It was sewn in with black thread, barely visible.

He was holding the Cloak of Invisibility, the Cloak of Death. Should he take it? He already had the Stone and he knew where the Wand was. He could take it from Dumbledore, becoming its master, then Voldemort wouldn't stand a chance against him. If he took the Cloak and Wand he would be the Master of Death.

The thought entertained Harry for a few seconds before he realized it wouldn't work. John and James would realize the Cloak was missing. Dumbledore was of course Dumbledore, he had won the Wand from Grindelwald himself. No doubt he had also had a few attempts to steal the Wand as well. Harry currently didn't stand a chance against him. He threw the Cloak back on the bed and left the Manor.

When he got back to his and Susan's flat, he found Susan gushing over a letter on the kitchen table. She could barely read a few words without squealing. When he entered, Susan immediately stood up and ran towards him.

"Oh Harry, it's just so exciting!"

"What?"

"Hannah, she just sent me this. Neville proposed to her during Christmas and now they're getting married!"

"They've told us a little late, haven't they?"

"They wanted to figure a few things out first before they told anyone. Now they have and Hannah wants _me_ to be her maid of honor. I can't believe it, Hannah's getting married!"

Harry picked up the letter and read through it. It was just a simple letter Hannah wrote for Susan explaining everything. He put it down after looking for the first few lines as it was personal.

For a week, all Susan could talk about was the upcoming wedding. Harry was proud for Neville and Hannah, but from the way Susan was talking about it, she was starting to drive Harry a little insane. Of course, as Harry thought about it, he wondered what their wedding would be like and how he would ask her. Then again, there was a more important question, _when_ should he ask her?

Harry considered talking to Neville about it as, true to his word, the future groom had made Harry the best man. However, he decided against it as Neville was freaking out about his wedding and that he might mess everything up. According to Susan, Hannah was worse, requiring Susan to spend almost all day with her just to calm her down.

It was a long two months, but finally the date of the wedding arrived. Harry knew that the couple would be even worse today but at the end, Neville and Hannah would be married. Harry spent the night at Longbottom Manor as Susan and Hannah had kicked him out of his flat. He wondered how Hannah slept that night as Neville was so nervous he barely slept an hour.

At eleven the girls arrived. In addition to Susan, Hannah had two other girls to act as her bridesmaids. Neville only managed to get one groomsman, Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry and Susan managed to get in a quick kiss before Hannah called Susan away.

At one, Neville, Harry, and Justin were waiting at the altar on time, but the girls were late. They stood there for twenty minutes and Neville was beginning to get worried. At long last, Megan Jones and Luna arrived followed by Hannah being escorted by her father. Harry held in his laughter at Neville's face but he had to admit Hannah looked beautiful. He struggled with thoughts of what Susan would look like in a similar dress with her hair done up.

Both Neville and Hannah wore wide grins throughout the wedding. It couldn't have been more obvious that the two were extremely happy. Neville stuttered a bit with his vows but otherwise the whole wedding went off without a hitch.

Once the vows were done, the wizard presiding over the wedding raised his arms and announced to the gathered crowd, "I now give you Mr. and Mrs. Neville Longbottom!"

"A grand introduction!" came a voice at the back. Everyone turned around and few people let out gasps and some screams. Bellatrix Lestrange and a half-dozen Death Eaters stood at the back, wands out and maniac grins on their faces.

"Be sure to say your 'hellos' and 'congratulations' because after today, the Longbottom Family will be no more."

The wedding guests scattered. Neville grabbed Hannah and Harry pushed them and Susan away and towards the Manor, drawing his wand as he did. He joined the few members of the Magical Law Enforcement that were present, including Robards. Sickly green curses flew into the retreating crowd before the Death Eaters focused on the DMLE members.

Two members fell, reducing their numbers to three but a Death Eater fell as well. They engaged each other two on one and Harry managed to blast his opponent backwards when a curse missed him by inches. Turning, Harry saw a cackling Bellatrix making her way over to him.

"Well, well, look who we have here, ickle baby Potter. But which baby is it?"

Harry responded with a cutting curse. Out of all the Death Eaters, Bellatrix was the one he wanted to get the most.

Bellatrix just blocked the spell and laughed again. "It's the Auror Potter. The Dark Lord has promised a great reward to whoever brings you before him. As his most loyal and faithful servant, that will be my honor."

She then sent a Killing Curse at him, which Harry only just dodged. Harry knew Bella's style; she usually wanted to mess with her victims for a bit before torturing them. The Cruciatus Cruse was her favorite. However, when pressed, she would quickly kill her opponent with deadly grace.

Bellatrix sent more Killing Curses at Harry, who summoned chairs to protect himself. He also sent Blasting Curses in retaliation but they did little. Harry knew that he was in trouble, he had only beaten Greyback through luck and as Voldemort's best lieutenant, Bellatrix was much better than Greyback. It would take all he had and more to beat her.

The duel spread quickly, destroying everything around them. The DMLE members and other Death Eaters had to flee to avoid getting in the crossfire. Harry kept on the defensive, looking for an opening, while Bellatrix gave a perfect demonstration on the phrase 'the perfect defense is a great offense'. The only reason Harry hadn't been defeated yet was because of Moody's training.

While defending, Harry observed Bellatrix's fighting style. She was a highly experienced witch, of that there was no doubt. During her years of serve for Voldemort she had been introduced to some truly horrible and devastating dark spells. She had participated in multiple battles and raids and knew how to fight.

From what he gathered, she used her own reputation as a tool, filling her opponents with fear. She then exploited that, causing them to make mistakes. She knew exactly what her opponents would do and how to block and counter it. This gave Harry an idea.

The first step came when Bella sent a Killing Curse at him. Summoning a nearby chair, the Curse was deflected and the chair destroyed. As the chair was blown apart, Harry sent a large piece towards Bellatrix's right knee as she stepped forward. The trick worked, Bellatrix was knocked off balance briefly.

She recovered quickly but Harry used that time to summon her right boot. He didn't really care for the boot he just needed the movement. The force of the boot flying off combined with Bellatrix being off balance cause the female Death Eater to fall on her back.

To cover the movement before she fell, Harry cast a Cutting Curse but Bellatrix's fall prevented her from shielding herself. The result was the spell cutting off Bella's wand arm just above the elbow. The wand and arm went flying and Bellatrix screamed with pain and rage.

Harry quickly stepped over to the fallen Death Eater and pointed his wand at her face. Bellatrix just glared at him and clutched at the stump of her arm.

"Go ahead Potter" she yelled, chest heaving. "Kill me, I know you want to. Become a grand hero and kill me, you've done it before. Do it and the Dark Lord will avenge me by killing all of you family. Or you could not kill me and be responsible for every single death I'll cause."

Harry gripped his wand tightly. Bellatrix's words made him want to kill her. She was right, he had killed before. Greyback was a monster but Bellatrix was worse, killing her would be for the best and he knew the words. But then another thought struck him. He remembered Moody telling him about his experiences.

Moody was skilled and could easily kill other Death Eaters but he always chose to take them alive and Harry wanted to be like him, to not kill unless necessary. Also, how could he live with himself, or even face Susan, if he killed someone in cold blood, never mind it was a murderer. Plus, if he did kill her now, he would be no better than she and her partners were.

"Bellatrix Lestrange, by the authority granted to me by the Ministry of Magic, for crimes against the Muggle and Magical Worlds, you are under arrest."

"Bah! It makes no difference Potter, the Dark Lord will free me within the week and then I'll come after you and your little whore."

"Maybe Bella, but I hear that the Ministry will start using the Kiss for captured Death Eaters more often."

Harry smirked at the pale face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Two Aurors appeared on either side of Harry. Looking around, he noticed that a squad of Aurors and Law Enforcement members walking around. Two other Death Eaters were arrested while the remaining had retreated. A struggling Bellatrix was stood up and led away.

As he watched, Harry thought about what had happened. He also believed it was best to check on Neville, Hannah, and Susan. As he walked towards the manor his foot hit something. Looking down, Harry saw it was Bellatrix's arm and wand. Leaning down, Harry picked up and pocketed the wand and set the arm on fire.

Once he entered the manor, Harry was assaulted by a red-haired missile in a yellow dress. Susan gripped him tightly as tears fell. Behind her were Neville and Hannah.

"The battle's over. Two Death Eaters were captured while the others escaped."

"And Bellatrix?"

Harry held out Bellatrix's wand to Neville. "Captured, and will be getting the Kiss soon if I have anything to say about it. I thought you might want this though, consider it a wedding present."

Neville took the wand and held it carefully. He examined it slowly before pocketing it. Then Neville gave him a hug. "Thanks Harry, you have no idea what this means to me, to my family."

"No problem Neville. Now go, enjoy your honeymoon. And when you get back, I want to hear that the Longbottom family is growing."

Harry and Susan both laughed at the red faces Neville and Hannah were sporting, though Susan's quickly vanished after a few seconds. The newly married couple left to gather their things and Harry turned to leave the manor. Susan ran after him.

"Harry, there's something important I must tell you."

Harry kissed the top of Susan's head. "I'm sorry Susan but it'll have to wait, I'm needed at the Ministry. You can tell me when I get back, I won't be long."

He gave her another kiss and left, ignoring the hurt look on her face. The truth was Harry didn't want to leave but he knew that Robards and Savage would need him at the Office, especially since he was responsible for the capture of Bellatrix.

* * *

><p>BELLATRIX LESTRANGE CAPTURED!<p>

_The Auror Office was pleased to announce yesterday evening that the infamous Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange was captured. Lestrange, along with two other low ranking Death Eaters, were captured at the wedding of Neville and Hannah Longbottom. The couple and many of their wedding guests managed to escape but four guests were killed in the attack before reinforcements arrived. _

_Sources close to the Office have claimed that Lestrange was captured by none other than Harry Potter, brother to John Potter, and killer of Fenrir Greyback the werewolf. _

_Citizens have reacted positively to the news of Lestrange's capture, many calling for the promotion of Auror Potter. The Auror Office refused to comment on Potter's abilities or previous successes but they did confirm that Lestrange will be receiving the Dementor's Kiss later this week._

Savage chose to stop reading the _Daily Prophet_ there. He folded it in half and turned it so that Harry could see the front, which held a picture of him and Lestrange. Harry had been forced to stay late the previous night to answer questions about the attack and Bellatrix's capture. It was now early in the morning and Harry wanted nothing more than to go home and get some sleep.

"You did good yesterday Potter," said Savage. "With You-Know-Who's top lieutenant captured, morale is at its highest point ever since the start of this war."

"Don't you think Voldemort will try and free Lestrange?"

"We've already taken care of that. She's scheduled to get the Kiss in a few minutes; the time mentioned in the paper was false. People are starting to look to you for hope; you've nearly single-handedly turned this entire war around. The people are starting to believe in the Ministry more than ever thanks to you. As such, Robards and I have talked, and agreed, to give you this."

Savage opened a draw in his desk and dug around for a few seconds before pulling something out. He then put on the desk a large silver badge. It was a Junior Auror badge.

"Congratulations on your promotion Potter, you are now a Junior Auror. With this new rank you are afforded more leeway in choosing which assignments you get to go on but your options are still limited. Keep up the good work, you're dismissed."

When Harry arrived home five minutes later, he found Susan sitting by herself at the kitchen table. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying, and didn't look like she had slept at all. Once Harry stepped through the front door, she jumped up and ran towards him, engulfing him in a bone-crushing hug, tears falling down her face.

"Shh, shh, it's OK," he said as he held her. "I'm fine, you're fine, we're both fine, and Neville and Hannah have already left. Nothing can hurt us now."

Susan leaned out of Harry's arms to look him in the eye.

"Susan, what is it?"

"Harry, how much do you love me?"

He looked into her eyes deeply, confused about the question.

"Very mush Susan, more so than I can express in words. In fact, yesterday made me realize something. As watched Hannah walk down the aisle, all I could think of was you doing the same. As I fought Bellatrix I realized that I could die at any time in this war and I don't want any regrets. Susan, will you marry me?"

Susan didn't respond, she just smiled as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Susan, are you O.K.?"

"Oh Harry, I had to know. I had to know if you really loved me."

"Susan, what is it?"

"Harry, you remember that romantic Valentine's date we had, and what we did after?"

Harry nodded, still confused.

"Harry, I'm pregnant."


	17. Chapter 17

**I am really sorry about _long_ wait for this chapter but I got a new job and it has been taking up a lot of my time. Most of this chapter was written over a long period of time and some parts required some motivation to work on. I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible, hopefully before the month is out. Please continue to read and review, thanks.**

* * *

><p>"HARRY POTTER!"<p>

When Harry walked into the Auror Office he flinched at the sound of Fay's voice. Said girl was marching angrily over to him with Tonks not far behind him.

"Where were you Harry Potter? You may be a Junior Auror now but don't forget that I'm still a Trainee and you are still my partner, so that means we still need to work together. So, I'll ask you again, where in the world where you yesterday?"

"Well, I ah…I was…"

"Harry?" Tonks asked, "hold out your hands."

Nervously, Harry held out both his hands but Tonks was only interested in his right. She grabbed his wrist tightly and pulled him forward so that she and Fay could see. There, on his ring finger was a silver wedding band.

Tonks looked long and hard at the ring before slowly looking into Harry's eyes.

"When?" she asked.

"Yesterday, that's where I was."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We wanted something quiet Tonks. After Bellatrix attacked Neville's wedding we didn't want to risk something happening. We also wanted it to be quick so, we eloped. We only had Amelia attend as Neville and Hannah are still on their honeymoon and there wasn't anyone else we wanted to invite."

"What about me Harry, I thought we were friends?"

"Sorry Tonks, we were in a bit of a hurry. I promise you, you'll be the first we invite next time."

"Good, because I'll never forgive you if…you little stinker!"

Fay and Harry couldn't help but laugh at Tonk's face and after a few seconds, she joined them in their laughter.

* * *

><p>Remus sighed heavily as he sat at the Potter dining table. Sensing something was wrong, Sirius decided as ask what was bothering him.<p>

"Something on your mind Remus?"

"Sirius, how old are we?"

Confused at the question, and a little unsure himself, it took a few seconds for Sirius to respond "About thirty-nine years, why?"

"I feel like an old man Sirius. Tonks told me today that she just found out that Harry and Susan have gotten married."

"What?" asked Lily as she entered the kitchen.

"Harry and Susan eloped yesterday. The only witness to their marriage was Susan's Aunt Amelia, not even Harry's friend Luna attended."

"Why should that make you feel like an old man Remus, Lily and James got married right after school, Harry and Susan did it a little less than a year after graduating."

"Because Sirius, before we know it, Susan will be pregnant and Harry will be a father. My own son is just under a year old; his godfather will have children his own age, maybe just a few years younger if I'm lucky. The whole thing just makes me feel older than I really am."

* * *

><p>Yet again the Order of the Phoenix met to discuss the actions of one Harry Potter. Many of the Order members who had been in the last war were impressed by Harry's actions and wondered why he hadn't joined yet. Only those who sided completely with Dumbledore didn't want Harry in the Order.<p>

"But why Dumbledore?" argued Tonks. "Why prevent Harry from joining the Order?"

"He is becoming too dangerous. Besides, he has already shown his disregard for even the smallest of my suggestions. If he were to join us he would destroy us from within by disobeying orders and going off on his own. No, right now the best strategy is to keep him out until he learns that only by siding with us and doing as I say will defeat Voldemort once and for all."

"To hell with your orders Dumbledore, have you actually seen this kid in action?" yelled Moody. "Death Eater grunts don't stand a chance against him. I've actually heard rumors that a pair surrendered to some Aurors just so they didn't have to fight him. They're scarred Albus, and why shouldn't they be. With Greyback dead and Bellatrix Lestrange practically dead, Harry is starting to become one of the most important people in this entire war."

"There are only _two_ major players in our side Alastor, me and John. Harry is only a pawn in the game who is starting to become more trouble than he's worth."

"You wouldn't actually kill him, would you Dumbledore?" asked the boy's worried mother.

"There is more than one way to remove a piece from the board Lily. Though, if Harry's death is needed for the Great Good, then so be it."

"This isn't a game Albus!" Moody stood angrily from his chair. "In case you've forgotten, this is a war, where people are losing their lives every day. The only reason I'd see Harry's death to be necessary would be if he took Voldemort down with him, and from what I've seen, that is a strong likely-hood. I am seriously beginning to question some of the motives of this group. The only reason I haven't left yet is because this group is the best shot we have a defeating Voldemort and from here we are in a position to do things the Ministry is either unwilling or incapable of doing."

The aged Auror then stormed out of the kitchen of Number Twelve. Some of the remaining members muttered among themselves about Moody's outburst and what he had said. Some agreed and were now beginning to question leaving. Dumbledore heard them and knew he couldn't allow it.

"Enough! Remus, what is the news from the werewolf front? Have they selected a new leader yet?"

"Yes, they have. Both Albert and Jacob are dead, killed during the in-fighting. Edward has gained control of the packs and recalled as many werewolves as he can but Radcliffe is still behind the scenes, waiting to take over."

"Very well, I was hoping for better but I suppose that will have to do for now. Keep me updated. That is all for now, you are all dismissed. John, I wish to have a word with you."

As soon as the last Order member left and Dumbledore was sure they were alone, he casted some very powerful wards over the doors and walls, then turned to his favorite pupil.

"How does our plan go?"

"Not very good, it's difficult right now but I am working on sneaking in whenever I can."

"I see. We need to step up our timetable, Harry's recent victories has started to turn the population towards him and away from you. We need it with you if we are to succeed. Therefore, I'm going to allow you into Hogwarts whenever you want and will give you special privileges to ensure that it's finished. I want to move with the next stage on your birthday."

"I think it can be done. I'll need to use a little persuasion but I'm confident everything will work out."

"Good. Soon Voldemort will be crushed and no one will ever remember your brother."

* * *

><p>Harry groaned as he fell onto his chair at the Auror Office. Every single muscle in his body hurt. Ever since his capture of Bellatrix Lestrange, the Office had been sending him off on non-stop patrols and raids, hardly giving him time to rest. Moody had also been working him, forcing him into the training complex whenever he could.<p>

This combination of work and training had left Harry extremely tired and, at times, irritable with everyone around him. Although it had only been almost two months since his wedding it felt like much longer. Thankfully it wasn't as Susan was now beginning to show and at times her hormones would send her emotions all over the place.

The two of them agreed that their two-bedroom flat was nice for the both of them and it might work for them and a baby, it may be time to look for something a bit bigger. With Harry's promotion the cost wouldn't be too much of a problem but finding the perfect spot would be. They had only taken a look at a few flats and houses but Susan didn't like any of them.

"Get up Potter," shouted Proudfoot. "We've got another raid scheduled in twenty minutes. This one shows some good promise."

Harry sighed and banged his forehead against his desk once. Despite the high number of raids the Aurors conducted in the past two months, the number of captured Death Eaters was at its lowest since the beginning of the war. Voldemort had been strangely quiet after the capture of Bellatrix. To make up for the low number of captures, Savage and Robards ordered even more raids and those resulted in even lower numbers. The whole thing repeated itself in a never ending cycle.

Harry saw no point in all the raids, they just drained all the energy out of the Office. Nearly every Auror was reaching their breaking point. Harry strongly suspected that this was a tactic by Voldemort to wear out the Office for a new offensive he had planned.

This raid was the sixth one on _Borgin & Burke's_. This one was only slightly successful as they grabbed two dark items and cataloged a dozen more suspected items. Unfortunately it was only worth a large fine and Burke wouldn't even see an hour in Azkaban. Only the second raid was better with the capture of Death Eater sympathizer and a Dark Arts item he was believed to be selling. That time Burke was able to wiggle out of buying/possessing a Dark Artifact by saying he never bought it and that the man had just brought it into his store.

When Harry got back to the Office, he quickly wrote his report and rushed to Robards' office.

"Here's my report on the _Borgin & Burke's_ raid sir."

"Hand it over Potter, let me read it."

Harry gave him the report and stood nervously as he read it. "Sir, I was wondering if I might have some personal time?"

"How long did you work on this report?" I take it you rushed through this. Rewrite it Potter, and this time, spend some good time on it. And no, I can't give you any personal time; we can't afford to give anyone any time off right now. You're dismissed Potter."

Harry sighed, grabbed his report, and walked out of the office.

* * *

><p>On June 13, the Order of the Phoenix held an emergency meeting. Once everyone arrived, Dumbledore stood up.<p>

"I have called this emergency meeting because Severus has brought some disturbing information to me. To discuss it, I'll turn this meeting over to Severus."

Said man stood up and cleared his throat while James and Sirius just grumbled about Death Eater scum.

"As many of you know, the Dark Lord has slowed his campaign since the capture and death of Bellatrix Lestrange. Death Eater morale is low while civilian morale is high. The Dark Lord aims to reverse this with his new attack.

"Part of his plan was to leak information to the Auror Office for raids that would tire them out and give him room for his attack. With this one attack, the Dark Lord plans to completely wipe out all morale for our side and show that Dumbledore and the Potter boys don't stand a chance against him."

"Enough about this background information!" shouted James. "What does Voldemort have planned?"

Snape turned towards James and the two glared at each other for several minutes.

"James, Severus." said Dumbledore.

The two turned towards him before glancing away. There was silence for a few seconds before Dumbledore cleared his throat and Snape continued.

"As I was saying, before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, the Dark Lord has planned out a daring and deadly strike with all of his Death Eaters. He plans to attack the Hogwarts Express before it can reach Kings Cross."

This revelation was met with many shocked outbursts, the loudest coming from Molly Weasley.

"My baby! Ginny will be on the train during the attack!"

"Relax Molly; I've already taken steps to protect her. However, it's the rest of the students that I'm concerned about."

"Albus, the entire Order can't take on all of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters _and_ protect all of Hogwarts's students, there's simply too many of each. We'll need help from the Aurors."

"I agree Nymphadora, you and Alastor will talk to Amelia and see if she'll give us a couple members of the Law Enforcement Squads in addition to the Aurors."

Tonks growled at the use of her first name but agreed to talk to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.

"What about Harry?" asked John, "Will he be there?"

"Yes, he will be. We'll need every available wand to protect the students and, as much as it pains me to say it, Harry is exceptionally powerful and skilled."

"I won't be there then, I won't fight alongside him."

"You don't have a choice. We can't take any chances with this attack. If Voldemort himself shows up this would be the perfect time to attempt to either capture him or end the war. You are the only one able to do this so you have to be there. Plus, imagine the morale a picture of you and your brother fighting together against the Death Eaters would create."

"I thought that you wanted to decrease Harry's popularity."

"With his achievements and due to the fact that you're his brother it will be difficult to do that right away. I am working on it but for now let's exploit it while we can."

* * *

><p>Harry groaned and rubbed his shoulder. That was the sixth time in the past hour that John had 'accidently' bumped into him, hard. He didn't know why he was on the train; Ginny Weasley was being moved from Hogwarts to the Order's Headquarters by floo so John had no reason to be here. Harry was here because he was one of the few members of the Order and Aurors who was closest in age to the students so as to not scare them. It was also because he was popular with the public.<p>

Harry, the Order, and Aurors stationed on the train were to patrol the carriages along with the seventh year Prefects and Head Students to make sure everyone was safe. Other members of the Order and Aurors were stationed along the tracks from Hogsmeade to Kings Cross. Standing orders were to wait for the Hogwarts Express to pass you, wait ten minutes, then Apparate to a secondary position ahead of the train. Everyone had a special coin that, when gripped tightly, alerted everyone to the expected attack.

From what Harry remembered, the trip was half over but he couldn't be sure. It was different traveling as an Auror than traveling as a student. As he wasn't allowed to socialize with the students he remembered from school, couldn't buy any treats off the trolley, and had to walk up and down the train constantly, the trip felt a lot longer than he remembered.

A part of Harry's patrol route was the engine of the Express. After walking the student areas of the Express for a while, he decided to check on the engine and conductor. Fay was the only other person there besides the conductor.

"How are things up here?"

"Boring" Fay grumbled. The conductor just chuckled lightly and turned the page in his _Daily Prophet_.

"We'll, it's not much better back there, just as boring up here as it is down here. How much longer till we reach Kings Cross?"

The conductor folded his paper and leaned over to squint at a gage. "Less than an hour. I tell you, I'm glad you're here Potter, the thought of Death Eaters attacking this train scares the hell outta me."

Harry just nodded as the conductor went back to reading his paper. Harry then turned to Fay.

"You know, ever since I've heard about the Hogwarts Express I wondered how it worked, even more so once I rode on it. Now that I've seen how, I regret it."

"Hey, hey" said the conductor, dropping his paper. "You've got nothing to worry about. This train runs on magic and has multiple wards and spells cast on it to keep it safe. I'm only here in case there's an emergency."

The words were barely out of his mouth when a low buzzing sounding from one of the gages. The conductor shot up and ran over to the gage, looked at it and turned pale.

"We've got incoming" he said as he ran around the engine, pulling levers.

The train started slowing down and Harry reached into his robe pocket and grabbed his coin. He gripped it until it started getting hot, then held to his mouth and whispered, "Hogwarts Express under attack."

He turned and joined Fay in leaving the engine. She currently held her wand to her throat and announced to the whole train, "Attention, attention. All students are to remain in their compartments. Please, duck down away from all windows and don't make a sound. This includes all Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl."

The defenders were running through the corridors, trying to find a good spot to defend from while many of the students were screaming. Harry stepped outside of the train to observe. A large cloud of black smoke, that was obviously Death Eaters, was quickly headed towards them. Three more Aurors joined Harry outside and took up defensive positions in front of the carriages. Together, the four raised their wands and shouted off various spells.

The spell fire wasn't very effective. The Death Eaters were too far away at first and as they got closer they scattered. Only two or three fell to the spells, dropping out of the sky. As they got closer the Death Eaters split into two groups, one continuing flying over the train while the second landed a few feet away from the train.

Those that landed in front of Harry and his group started firing almost right away, forcing the Aurors on the defensive. Judging on the sounds coming from behind him, Harry guessed that the other group of Death Eaters was doing the same thing on the other side of the train. The defenders still on the train fired spells from the windows but they weren't very effective as there were too many Death Eaters.

Harry didn't know how long they could hold them off, there were so few of them and so many Death Eaters. But no matter how long it took, he would have to hold them off; they couldn't get to the students. Various pops sounded around them as more Aurors and Order members arrived. Because they didn't know what was going on, a few got hit and fell.

Harry didn't know how long they had fought; it could've been a couple of minutes or several hours. All he knew was that he and the other Aurors were beginning to tire and the Death Eater assault hadn't let up. Suddenly, the Auror next to Harry was hit by a Killing Curse. The shock at his sudden death broke a hole in the Auror defense line and the Death Eaters rush right through it.

With the line broken, the battle turned from a siege into many individual duels, some one-on-one, others involving as many as four opponents for one person. Harry himself was taking on two Death Eaters. They weren't that talented but skill didn't matter much when your opponent was tired. The three were at a stalemate; Harry knew he could beat them if given the chance to fire off a spell or two but they weren't allowing it by keeping him on the defensive.

As the battle spread it started to rain. 'Seems fitting' Harry thought. He felts something hit his back. Turning, Harry saw that he had bumped into Fay, who was also on the defensive from her own opponent. Fay also turned her head to see what she hit and saw Harry. With a quick nod, the two made a decision and spun. Now Harry was facing her surprised opponent while she was battling his.

Harry's new opponent was scared of facing the great Harry Potter and his face showed it. The Death Eater took a few steps back and did what he thought was a very good idea but in Harry's mind, was the worst thing you could do in a battle. He turned and ran. Harry didn't hesitate to take him down before turning to assist Fay with his old opponents.

Suddenly, a Death Eater flew by in the form of black smoke. He crashed into one of the train's carriages. The window where he hit exploded and several screams were cut short. The force of the Death Eater hitting the carriage also caused it to tip and fall over. More screams sounded from within. Harry took small comfort that at least there were _some_ students still alive inside.

The fall of that carriage heightened the need to end the battle quickly and get all the students to St. Mungo's right away. Thankfully, more reinforcements were arriving from the Ministry. Harry could see his parents fighting the Carrow siblings near the rear of the train while John fought nearby. Amelia Bones and twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad arrived near the front. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could also see a few older students exiting the train and fighting back.

With the arrival of reinforcements the Death Eaters decided to cut their losses and abandon the battle. The Death Eaters fell back, away from the train and, with a sharp whistle, Apparated away. It took the defenders a couple of seconds to realize that the battle was over. When he realized that it was over, Harry collapsed on the grass from exhaustion.

* * *

><p>ATTACK ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS!<p>

_Yesterday afternoon was a day many parents looked forward to, the return of their children from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, to many parents' horror, the Hogwarts Express did not pull into Kings Cross Station like it usually did. This is because the train fell under attack from what appeared to be every Death Eater. _

_Aurors, members of the Order of the Phoenix, and multiple Ministry personnel rushed to protect the Express once the alert had been given that it was under attack. The numerous forces deployed to protect it helped prevent what was expected to be a massacre aboard the Express. _

_Unfortunately, there were some deaths as a result of the attack. Eleven students were killed with over twenty more being heavily injured when a Death Eater knocked over one of the carriages. In addition, ten Aurors were either killed to too heavily injured to return to active duty. Also, two members of the Order were killed. Only one Death Eater died in the attack and two more were captured, the rest escaped. _

_What does this mean for the future of our world and the war? How well can the Ministry truly protect us? These are questions many are asking yet are receiving few answers to. For a full list of the dead and injured, turn to page nine. _

Dumbledore stopped reading aloud and put down the paper. Before him sat the entire Order, which he had called together so he could read them the day's _Daily Prophet_. Scanning their faces, Dumbledore saw that very few did not have a tear in their eyes for the lost. Dumbledore himself was having a hard time controlling his emotions for the eleven killed students, all whom had been quite bright.

"I don't think I need to tell you all what a terrible tragedy this is" he began. "Every life lost is a terrible thing. Those students could've become productive members of society and helped in the war. The Aurors will be greatly missed. This attack has undone much of the morale boost that Harry has given; it is now at its lowest point since the beginning of the war. We must find a way to increase morale."

"Professor," said John, "I think I have just the thing. I have just been informed that our plan is on schedule."

"You were successful then?"

"Yes sir."

"Excellent. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the pleasure of making the announcement of the engagement of John Potter and Ginny Weasley!"

"What?" Everyone turned towards a shocked Molly Weasley. "My baby just graduated from Hogwarts, she's too young to get married."

"Molly, it is of the upmost importance that Ginny and John marry as soon as possible, especial within a few months."

"And why is that Albus?"

"Because Molly, Ginny has agreed to assist in a plan that I've been working on for the past few years. You all know that the Prophecy says that John here would have a 'power he knows not' to defeat Voldemort and that power is love. You also know that Lily's love for her son allowed him to survive Voldemort's attack that Halloween night. Through much research and experimentation, I have come to believe that the ultimate expression of love for John would allow him to destroy Voldemort once and for all. That expression has finally come around, Ginny Weasley is now pregnant."

This revelation shocked the room completely. Molly fainted while Bill and the twins turned to glare heavily at a red John. Lily's eye went wide and didn't speak while James just cheered and clapped his son on his back. Arthur, who was trying to hold up his wife, asked "Albus, Ginny is our youngest and only daughter, why went we informed of this?"

"I am sorry Arthur but it didn't seem necessary, even Ginny didn't know the truth of what was going on. Sacrifices must be made for the Greater Good and she gets the reward of having her greatest dream fulfilled."

* * *

><p>When Harry arrived back at their flat, he found Susan nervously waiting for him.<p>

"Susan, what is it?"

Biting her lip, she held out a crisp white letter. Taking it, Harry read out loud.

"You are cordially invited to the wedding of John Potter and Ginny Weasley, July 31 at Potter Manor."

"Your mother dropped that off for me today at St. Mungo's. She regrets she had to send it privately but your father and brother didn't want to invite you. She also regrets that she missed our wedding."

"Why is she doing this?"

"She said she felt bad about everything that happened over the years. While things may not be completely forgiven ever, she hopes that this would be a step in the right direction. She said she wants to have a proper relationship with you, with us."

Harry stared at the letter in his hand. Thinking he walked around a bit while Susan watched him. Finally, after some deep thoughts, he threw the letter on the table angrily.

"She had her chance for a relationship, years ago. I've given up a long time ago. You can go to the wedding if you want, but I have no interest in the rest of my so-called family."

He then left the room in an angry huff.

* * *

><p>A month later, Susan was in her best dress robes at the childhood home of her husband. Dozens of people were in attendance to the wedding of the Boy-Who-Lived. Everyone from friends of the Potters to members of the Ministry to reporters from all over the world was there. She even saw a handful of people try and seek in, only to be caught and thrown out.<p>

"Hello Susan, you look rather sad today."

"Luan! How are you?"

"Quite well, though I am a little lonely since Rolf left for his trip to South America."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that."

"Do be, it is a part of his work after all. What about you though?"

"Oh, I'm fine, but the baby is starting to drive me a little crazy at times. What are you doing here; I didn't think _The Quibbler_ would be invited."

"Oh we weren't at first but Ginny managed to persuade the Potters to allow it. She even got me the job of taking the official wedding photos."

"That's great, good for you."

"Thanks. So, where's Harry?"

Susan sighed. "He's at the Ministry. He didn't want to attend."

"Harry's not here?"

The two turned, expecting to see Lily Potter, but were surprised to find Dumbledore looking at them.

"No sir, Harry didn't want to come."

"I see. I had hoped that he would be here as it is his brother's wedding. Him being here, the Potters all together, would do much to increase morale."

"To be honest Professor, I don't think Harry cares much for his family as much anymore. I'm only here because Lily begged me to."

And with that, Susan turned and walked away, Luna following her. Unseen by the three, Lily Potter let a few tears fall at the thought that her youngest son lost to her forever. She was too late. Only in the past few months did she realize how she had treated Harry, how she favored his brother over him simply because John was the Boy-Who-Lived. When she realized what she had done, she had spent much time and energy trying to fix it. Now, it was all for nothing.

The wedding between Ginny and John was truly magnificent. The Potters had spared no expense to provide their favorite son the very best. From the small detail in the design to the jewels in Ginny's dress in was clear that _this_ was the wedding of the century.

From what Susan saw, it appeared that the wedding was going off without a single hitch. Even the weather was cooperating. Of course, everyone should've known that something would've gone wrong that day. Ginny and John had just finished saying their vows and everyone was clapping when something silver came flying towards them.

Slowly the clapping started to stop as more and more people observed what Susan realized was a Patronus. It swooped down and landed in front of Ginny and John. It was a lynx Susan noticed and it opened its mouth to speak in a slow, deep voice.

"The Ministry of Magic is under attack. You-Know-Who is leading."


End file.
